My last Cup
by JustAnotherGuy100
Summary: Ron/Hermione are not together. The Trio haven't spoken to each other for years. Read why.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: This is going to be my first attempt to write a multi-chapter story. It's not going to be like my one-shots. It's more of a drama story.**

**Also I'm not going to stop writing funny/family one-shots of R/Hr. This story is just an experiment to see if I can write a full story. I know that the use of TV in the Wizarding world is ridiculous, but I've read worse things in fics.**

** Disclaimer: I'm not JKR, my english are still bad and if you like it, please review!**

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><p>Ever since the Ministry of Magic decided to introduce television to the wizarding community, most of wizards and witches loved the idea. They found this little box very fascinating and entertaining. The Ministry gave to every wizarding house a muggle TV that was enchanting to play the magical networks too.<p>

Ron was having one more interview in a sports-show called; Catch the Snitch, with Adam Lacey, a good friend of his. It wasn't the first time that Ron was invited to this TV-show, but this time he had an important announcement to make that he hadn't tell Adam before.

"**Ronald Weasley, ****after 6 years as the Cannon's keeper and Captain and after you lead the time in their first League championship since 1892 and named officially as the best Quidditch player in the world for year 2005, what are your feelings****?"**

"Yeah, it was a good year for me and the team I must admit," he laughed for a moment before getting more serious. "The most important thing is that we made our fans proud. They waited patiently for so long and they had to endure the mocking of other team's fans for so many years, but they stayed loyal to the team and this is our biggest achievement. Not the trophies, but the smiles and happiness we gave to our fans. Everything is for them."

"**Is this relationship you have developed with the Cannon's fans the reason you refused the offer from ****Tutshill Tornados, last year?" **

Ron simply shook his head. "The Tornados offer was very generous, but money was never the reason I decided to try my luck in playing Quidditch in a professional level. I'm a Cannon's supporter my whole life and it was my dream to play one day for them in front of our fans. You can't buy that with money."

"**So playing for the team you supported your whole life and winning the League as the MVP is a dream comes true?"**

"I stopped making dreams a long time ago. I'd rather face reality. But if you want to put it that way, then I suppose you're right. It is something that my younger self used to dream and now that I succeeded that, I feel very happy and proud of myself."

"**Now the World Cup is coming and it's going to be held here in England. Are you excited to be a member of our National team?"**

"It's a great honour of course to play for your country. I believe it's going to be a great experience."

"**You think we can make it as a team? How far do you see us going in the tournament?"**

"We have a good team I think and if we work hard then we can go all the way through, always with the supports of our fans of course."

"**Do you mind if we go into more personal questions? I received many question from a lot of female fans of your, and they desperately want some answers."**

Ron knew this was coming. Every time they asked him the same questions. If he's single, what he seeks in a woman and all that nonsense. "Sure, why not?" he answered with fake enthusiasm.

Adam pulled a pile of cards from his robe, gave Ron an apologetic glance and started asking.

"**Do you have a tattoo and if yes what it is and where?"**

Ron lifted his shirt in his right arm. "This is a lion, that represents the Gryffindor emblem and I have one more tattoo in my body, but I can't say where," he said and a lot of female giggles came from the live audience.

"**When was the first time you kissed a girl?"**

"I was sixteen and it was after a school Quidditch game."

"**Are you single at the time?"**

Ron sighed. "Yes, I am." Whistles and a lot screaming from a couple of girls asking him to marry them were heard and Ron laughed. After a minute the girls were silent again and the show went on.

"**Have you ever been in love?"**

Ron froze. It was the first time they asked him that. "Once," he said quietly.

"**What happened?"**

Ron tried to play it cool. He knew that _she _was probably watching and he didn't want to give her the satisfaction that he's still pining over her.

"Well, you know… life. I was young and at that age you tend to misunderstand some feelings. I realized that some things are just not meant to be. Especially a lovestory when the feelings are one-sided."

"**So, after that you never fell in love again? We've seen you a lot of times in the arms of beautiful women. None of them ever stole your heart?"**

"I don't deny that I had a lot of short-term relationships, but nothing too serious. I'm just enjoying life at the moment."

He saw Adam looking skeptical over the next question he was about to ask.

"**If you don't feel comfortable with this question then you're free to not answer it," **Adam said and Ron nodded.

"**What happened to the Golden Trio and you three split up? Last time someone saw you three together in the same room, was at Harry Potter's and your sister Ginny's wedding ceremony 4 years ago. And all the witnesses said that you and Miss Granger didn't share a word. And the only moment you talk to Harry was when you congratulated him for the wedding and then you left. You didn't even go to wedding party, as opposed to Miss Granger who went, but she sat alone all night and didn't say a word to anyone. What broke this bond?"**

Anger filled Ron's insides. People should look at their own business and leave them alone. Also the mention of Hermione's name was enough to make him want to curse everyone in the studio. But once again he reminded himself that she would be watching, so he took a few deep breathes, wore a fake smile and got ready to answer.

"**Again if you don't feel comfortable-"**Adam begun saying, but Ron interrupted him.

"No, it's fine, I'll answer." He let out a soundless but deep sigh. "Like in all relationships, friendship is tested very often. Sometimes you pass with flying marks and others you fail. It's sad, but it happens. It's life."

That's it. That was his answer. He wouldn't give anything else and Adam knew it.

"**This is the last question. Why do you live in a muggle area?"**

"It's easier to hide from unwelcome wizards and witches," he said and everybody wondered what he meant.

"Actually there is something I want to announce if you don't mind," he said and Adam nodded happily. "The World Cup is my last tournament. I'm retiring from Quidditch after that."

Everybody gaped at Ron. He was the best Quidditch player in the world, making a lot of money and he was so famous. Why he wanted to quit?

"**But you are the top of your game now!" **Adam exclaimed, probably voicing every Quidditch fan at that moment.

Ron face was almost blank, like he was trying to hide his feelings for some reason. "I have some very important personal reasons that are forcing me to end my career now."

Before Adam had the chance to ask him more though, Ron raised his hand to stop him.

"I want to give a promise though. This is going to be my last tournament and I want to leave with a bang! So, I'm going to give everything I have to make England win the Cup. That's it, nothing else."

Adam had so many questions at that moment but after many interviews he knew really well Ron and they were very good friends now. He knew that look on his face. It meant 'no comment' and as a good friend, he decided to not push the matter further for the moment.

"**Totally unexpected way to end our show, but it was good to have you here with us, Ronald Weasley," **he said giving Ron a handshake.

"**To all of our viewers, have a nice night."**

In a small flat in the heart of muggle London, a brunette girl was watching that show. Tears wer rolling down her cheeks as she hugged her stuffed otter tightly in her chest. The otter was the last muggle gift Ron gave her, before...

She started sobbing really hard. How everything come to this?How she could be so stupid?

She knew the answer. It was only her fault. Her fault for leaving Ron; the love of her life, for Draco Malfoy.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Now if you are a DHr fan, I'm sorry but this isn't about them. That pair is so ridiculous and laughable that I have no freakin idea how people want a nice girl like Hermione with a coward, selfish moron like Malfoy. The only reason I use them is because I wanted to add more drama and for having fun humiliating the ferret in the next chapters.**

**If you don't like the story, fine by me. If you do, leave a review. Thank you :)  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Still not JKR, stil my english are bad and still I need reviews. Even the bad ones telling me what I'm doing wrong :)**

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><p>It was very early in the morning and Hermione was at her flat tapping her foot nervously on the floor. Like every Wednesday morning, she was counting the minutes for the time to go and see him. Of course, after what she did, she was now forced to watch him from afar. She never had the courage to talk to him after that day. Not that she had anything to say to make him forgive her.<p>

The alarm she had set on her mobile rang and she knew it was time. She quickly left her flat and walked a hundred yards, which was Ron's flat. Ron had no idea that Hermione knew where he lived. She spotted him by coincidence one day two years ago and after that she became some sort of a stalker.

It was a great surprise to see that he lived only a few blocks from her and after a few months she had practically memorized his schedule. Hermione knew that every Wednesday morning Ron liked to jogged in the streets of Soho for an hour and she always run with him. She always kept a safe distance of fifteen yards and luckily so far he had never notice her presence.

She was pathetic, she knew it. She had Ron and betrayed him with the guy who almost killed him.

How could she be so fool, to leave Ron for that ferret? What was she thinking? Or probably she wasn't thinking, and that's why it happened. She still remembered how everything begun.

Draco came to Hogwarts after the War to repeat his 7th year while Ron and Harry went to the Auror Academy. She had no idea why, but Draco came to find her the first day and he apologised for his behaviour all those years ago. Hermione was in such a good mood after the summer she had spend with Ron that she forgave him without a second thought.

It was about a month later when she saw him crying in the empty Potions class. When she asked what was going on he explained to her what was troubling him and she felt pity for him, because apparently nobody wanted to be his friend. Names like Malfoy, Crabbe, or Goyle became synonymous of evil, cowardice and betrayal. Not even some of his old friends or other Slytherins wanted to be friends with him again.

To help him, she started being friend with him and she did that publicly so everyone could see it. She wanted people to stop thinking with the wrong side of their heart and even if Draco was someone that deserve being alone and hateful, it didn't mean that he didn't have the capacity to change.

Huh… Change! How naive she was to believe that people like Malfoy can change. Like Chad Kultgen would say _"people don't change, they just have momentary steps outside of their true character." _

Their 'friendship' caused her some problems at first with Ginny and the rest of Gryffindors, but Hermione didn't care. It felt like a mission to her, to prove to everybody and herself that Draco Malfoy was a good person.

She started spending hours after hours with him and he almost become her new 'Harry'. Just like she always helped Harry to get through the day, she decided that Draco needed her help. She was good at helping others and she knew it.

By the time Christmas holidays came they were almost inseparable. Hermione never saw him as something more than a friend until then. For her Draco was another best friend, like Harry, like Neville, like Ginny, or like Luna.

Christmas morning though changed everything. She was at the Burrow sleeping in Ginny's room. Unfortunately, Ron and Harry wouldn't be there for Christmas, but they were expected for New Year's Eve. When Hermione woke up and saw that pile of presents next to her bed she smiled. Almost everyone got her books or school supplies, but two presents were different.

The one was from Ron. It was a stuffed otter that represented her patronus that came with a letter. In that letter Ron told her how he missed and loved her and how he couldn't wait to see her in a few days. Hermione sighed and hugged that otter as tightly in her chest as she could, wishing Ron would be there and hold her in his arms.

The second was from Malfoy. It was a silver pendant with a gold heart and a letter where surprisingly for her, Draco was confessing his undying love for her. She was really shocked and it was that moment when Hermione made the biggest mistake of her life. She wondered.

She wondered if Draco was honest. She wondered if she could love him back the same way. She wondered what would it feel to kiss him. She wondered what would it feel to touch him. She wondered what would be like to be his girlfriend or his wife.

She spend most of her days until Ron came home imagining about Draco, and feeling guilty for thinking about another guy when she was Ron's girlfriend. After Ron's arrival, she forgot everything about Draco and spend a week full of love with Ron, even making dreams about the future, but still something was bothering her.

When she went back to Hogwarts, she acted very distant with Draco at first, but something was keeping her awake at nights. It was a voice calling her to go to him. To risk a little and explore the possibility. Yes, she didn't love Draco like Ron, but the idea of her and him together was hunting her dreams and thoughts. Maybe it was some kind of aphrodisiac to be with your worst enemy from the past, she didn't know.

It was one day before Valentine's day when it happened. She was heading to the Gryffindors common room when Draco came out of nowhere, grabbed her by the arms, dragging her to the Room of Requirements.

There without saying anything he kissed her hard. She didn't know why, but she started kissing back more passionate than him. And that was it. After that she knew. She knew that she wanted a chance with Malfoy. Even if that meant to leave Ron, she wanted a chance with him. Maybe she didn't love him as much as Ron, and maybe he didn't make her feel butterflies in her tummy and maybe he didn't make her knees weak like Ron did, but she thought that in time it would change.

Why she decided to do it she had no idea. She didn't love Draco like Ron. Draco didn't make feel anything even close to what she felt when Ron was kissing her, but still she did it. Even now, almost 7 years later, she still couldn't explain it. It made no sense.

The next day when Ron waited for her, outside Zonko's in Hogsmeade to spend the Valentine's day together, she asked him to break up. She never let him say a word first. The second he came to her, she stopped him and confessed that she had fallen in love with Draco Malfoy and she wanted to break up so she could be with him.

She still remembered his reaction. He didn't get mad or yelled or cursed. He just stare at her with his beautiful blue eyes for a minute and then he turned around and left in silence. What really hurts Hermione is that she cant remember what was the last thing he said to her. How sad it is to not remember the last words, the person you love more than anyone, ever said to you? Hermione knew very well how much that hurt.

As it was expected, Ginny, Neville and the rest of the group, stopped being friends with her after that. Not that she blamed them. Even Luna who saw the good on every creature, she turned her back one day when she just asked her if she needed help with her homework.

All she had was Draco and she decided to embrace that. They would kiss in front of the students, they would walk holding hands and even if she's so ashamed to admit it now, she frequently had sex with him in the prefect's bathrooms.

The sad part was that Draco never managed to give her one simple orgasm. Not that she was surprised with his tiny penis. When she first saw it, she wondered if Draco's dad was really Lucius or his dad was an elf. It was that small! But she had heard that the size wasn't important if you know how to use it. Unfortunately one more time she realised how wrong she had been. A selfish person is a selfish lover and Draco was no exception. He had no desire to make her happy in bed, not that he knew how.

It was one more area that Draco wasn't better than Ron and Hermione started to wonder why she chose Draco over Ron. When she and Ron made love for the first time, that night at Percy's old room, she felt complete and after that night, every time they made love, she ended up trembling from her hard orgasms. Stubbornly she decided to ignore that and hope that the sex with Draco will get better in the future.

Harry in the meantime was the only person from her old friends still talking to her. Not like they used to, but he always sent an owl once a week asking her about how she was. Of course, he was mad at her for what she did to Ron, but Hermione smartly she never mentioned Draco's or Ron's name in her letter.

While the time for the NEWT's exams was coming, Draco was coming closer to her, spending a lot of time talking about his parents and especially his dad and how good father he was. Hermione was surprised hearing how great and loving family the Malfoys really were.

Foolishly she failed to notice that Draco was having a plan with her. He wanted to get him and his father into her good books, because that would prove to the whole wizarding world and Wizengamot that Lucius Malfoy didn't raised his son as a racist and that deep down, Malfoys are good people, only terrified by Voldemort's power. Everyday after he would tell her a nice family moment, he would remind her that Voldemort threatened to kill his father if he didn't obey his orders or how he tortured Narcissa and him every time they tried to disobey him.

Hermione believed him in everything he said and when time for Lucius trial came, she testified that Lucius was a victim of Voldemort's plan and that the Malfoy senior didn't belong in Azkaban. Her testimony was enough to make the judge reduce Lucius penalty from life time to a year sentense. Afterall she was the muggleborn Heroine and her opinion was very important.

It was the moment that Harry stopped talking to her too. Lucius Malfoy was the reason that he and Ginny almost died in the Chamber of Secrets and he was one of the reasons that Sirius died in the department of Mysteries and she portrayed him as a caring man and a loving husband and father.

She was surprised when she received a wedding invitation of his and Giny's wedding 4 years ago and for a moment she had hoped that they might start being friends again, but he and the Weasleys were really cold towards her during the whole ceremony and party and she realised that she was only invited, because it was the right thing to do and not because they wanted to.

_The wedding._ The last time she made an effort to talk to Ron. He was so handsome that day! He was there alone in the wedding ceremony and she approached him slowly. He saw her coming towards him and he walked in another direction. She didn't followed him. She new that in the party she would find a way to corner him and maybe hear his voice again. But Ron never came to the party and Hermione spent the whole night drinking and sitting alone. In the end she passed out on the table and Mr. Weasley woke her up a few hours later, accompanying her to her flat.

She didn't remembered what she had told him, but after that day Arthur was often coming by her office asking her about her news, and sometimes they ate lunch together. He was always telling her all the news about Weasleys and Harry and it was like she has a friend after so long.

Her memories were interrupted when she saw him. She was surprised to see him dressed in jeans and jacket. That wasn't an outfit for jogging. She saw him starting to walk down the street and she followed him in a safe distance. It was ten minutes later when Ron had reached his destination and went inside a very big building. Hermione's heart stopped beating when she saw what the buiding was; _The London Clinic Cancer Centre._


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I'm not JKR, my English are bad and I won't get mad at you if you review my story.**

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><p>Hermione couldn't believe it. Why would Ron be in a muggle clinic about cancer? Was he sick? That's why he announced his retirement? Although she never heard another wizard or witch suffering from cancer. These kind of diseases were not very common in the wizarding world, but Hermione couldn't be sure.<p>

There were countless of dark thoughts trying to penetrate her mind, but she managed to block them out. She didn't have time for thinking. She had to follow him quickly inside the clinic. She had to find out what was going on, praying for the best and feared of the worst.

Ron was ten feet in front of her, in the gift shop, buying a bouquet of white lilies. She sighed in relief. He was coming for a visit. But who could be coming to visit in the hospital, was the question that formed in her mind?

She kept following him and she saw him entering a patient's room. Carefully she glanced inside and she saw Ron offering the flowers to a young bold woman who was sitting in the hospital bed and rewarding him with a kiss on the cheek, before Ron sat on the empty chair next to the bed.

Hermione was in a hearing distance and the right thing to do was to turn around and leave, but the curiosity got the better of her, so she decided to stay next to the door and listen to their private talk.

"I've told you so many times to stop bringing me flowers, Ron."

"Actually at first I had bought you chocolates, but I ate them. Flowers were my second option. Sorry, Claire," Ron said in an apologetic tone.

Hermione smiled to herself. It was so typical of Ron to pretend that he always put food more than anything.

The woman groaned. "Oh, I would kill for a chocolate!"

"Really? Because I have in mind a couple of people that I want to get them out of the way," Ron joked.

"Give me their addresses and I'm on it! Don't forget to bring my chocolates in prison," Claire joked back causing them both laugh.

It had been so many years since Hermione had heard Ron's laugh for the last time. That sound warmed her heart and she wished she could hear it again, but the conversation between Ron and that Claire woman went to a more serious topic.

"I have some news, Ron. The doctors are giving me an alternative. Basically they want me to participate in an experimental clinical trial. Long story, short, it's a surgery. Do you know what a surgery is?" Claire asked Ron.

"You mean the one that they put a mask on your face to sleep and a bunch of little tubes on your nose and your arm and then the doctors are using those small knifes and blades to cut you open?"

"I'm impressed, Ron," Claire said and she wasn't the only one.

The same expression of the pleasant surprise had Hermione behind that door. She wondered for a second how Ron could possibly know about what a surgery is.

"I don't have a TV in my flat for nothing. There is a new muggle show, called House MD, and it's wicked!" Ron exclaimed enthusiastically.

Hermione had to bite her lips from chuckling. She loved that show and she couldn't help but imagine the two of them sitting in the sofa watching it and her trying to explain everything to Ron, even when he wouldn't ask her. She quickly removed the thought away. There was no time for daydreaming.

"Well, if the surgery is successful, I'm tumor free. If it's not... then I'll die on the surgical bed," Claire said in shaky voice.

There was a long pause from both of them. Hermione was listening carefully, feeling very sad for that woman. After a minute, Claire spoke again.

"I have about two weeks to decide, but I already know what I want to do. A couple of years ago, I wouldn't agree. I would keep my two years they're giving me now and spend them with Hannah, but now that you're here, I think it worth a risk. The chances of survival after the surgery are very slim, but I want to do it, because even if I die, I know now that my Hannah won't be alone. She'll be with you."

Hermione peeked inside and saw the woman holding Ron's hand and caressing it gently.

"She'll be with her daddy," Claire said softly.

Hermione froze. Did she hear right? Did that woman called Ron, daddy? Panically she turned around and left as fast as she could. She ran to her flat where she got to her bed and started crying.

_Ron was a father! A father! He had a daughter named Hannah! _

Hermione wasn't naïve to believe that she could be with Ron again after what happened with Draco, but dreams are free and the only person you can harm while dreaming is yourself. Hermione dreamt a lot in the last years.

She was dreaming herself finding the courage and apologizing to Ron. She was dreaming him forgiving her and telling her that he still loved her. She was dreaming them getting married in the backyard of the Burrow with Harry as the best man and Ginny as the bridesmaid. She was dreaming about a big house in the Forrest of Dean next to the pond, with a white fence and a small Quidditch field where Ron would teach their children how to play.

But more than anything, the biggest and smallest dream, the one that kept her company in the lonely nights and it was the cause for countless of tears, was she, waking up in his arms and him whispering softly in her ears that he loved her. That's all she wanted. She wanted Ron to love her again. To love her just one ounce of how much he used to love him. It would be enough for her.

She wasn't going to have it now. Ron had a daughter. And a wife? Although, she was sure he wasn't married. Of course, she had no idea that he had a daughter, so she couldn't be sure about anything now.

She wept that day. She wept so hard that she fallen asleep from exhaustion. When she woke up she went for a shower, but her mind was still on Ron and what she had just found out. Ron had a secret family. He had a daughter and possibly a wife_. _

_A dying wife_, a voice in her head heard.

It was the moment when Hermione realized how insignificant her problems were. Ron had a dying wife. He would have to raise their daughter alone. Little Hannah would have to grow up without a mother. Ron would be a single parent.

And what was she doing? Crying like a little girl, that her foolish dreams of having a family with Ron, had shattered down? Like she didn't know already that they would never come true? Why was she reacting like that? Was she waiting Ron to stop living after her? She broke his heart and he moved on. And now? In his second attempt to happiness he'll be alone again.

Hermione's heart sank at the realization that Ron would suffer again the lost of the woman he loved.

She wanted to do something. She wanted to go there and hold him. To tell him that everything would be alright. To be his best friend again.

Not having formed a plan or anything, Hermione put some clothes on and she went to Ron's flat. She knew she was unwelcomed, but she had to try. She had no idea how she would explain Ron that she knew about Claire and Hannah or how she knew where he lived, but in her mind there was ony one goal. To help Ron.

She stood outside his door and knocked on, in a mix of fear and hope. Whatever would come out of that door, she would face it. Only she wasn't prepared to face the one who opened the door.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Short chapter, I know, but the first chapters are going to be more of informative rather than the actual story. The actual story will begin in a couple of chapters. If you like this story so far or you have question leave me a review or send me a pm. Thank you :)<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I'm still not JKR, still my english are bad, and please I need your reviews. I have more people putting this story in their favourites than the actual reviews! ****How is that possible?**

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><p>The door opened and a shirtless Ron appeared in front of her. Hermione gaped at the sight. Ron was not the lanky boy anymore. He was definitely a man. She shouldn't have been surprised since Ron was a professional athlete, but actually seeing his well built torso from up close was something she never imagined she would. Especially today.<p>

Before she had the chance to raise her stare and look Ron in the eyes, he closed the door to her face.

She felt her eyes watering at that reaction. She knew she was unwelcomed, but at least she hoped he wouldn't treat her like a disease. She almost turned and left, but then she reminded herself why she was there in the first place. She was there to help him, whether he wanted to or not. She summoned her Gryffindor courage and knocked on the door again.

"Ron, please open up. I just need to talk to you," she shouted from outside of his door.

Silence came from the house. Apparently Ron wasn't willing to open the door. "I'm going to wait outside your door until you open up. You know how stubborn I can be."

She waited for 10 minutes and when she realised that he wasn't going to open the door again, she knocked one last time. "I know about Claire and Hannah," she said hoping that this would make him open the damned door! It worked.

The door opened immediately causing her to startle. Ron gave her an angry look but motioning for her to enter his flat; to her great disappointment he was wearing a white t-shirt now.

Hermione entered the flat slowly and sat on the couch while Ron sat in a chair far away from her. She took a good look at the flat and she smiled at what she saw. There were toys everywhere and some clothes that belong to a really tiny person. _That must be Hannah's_, she thought.

"Do you like something to drink?" Ron asked calmly surprising Hermione.

"Hmm… a glass of water would be fine," she replied awkwardly, watching him in the eyes.

God, how much she missed those eyes. The first time they slept together she was the first to wake up the next morning and she kept staring at his sleeping figure. When she whispered in his ear to wake up, she saw his eyes open for the first time of the day. She was the first sight of his day and that made Hermione realize at that moment how she would love to see him wake up every day for the rest of her life.

How the hell everything came to this? Being in the same room and feeling like a stranger? What happened to her? She was crazy about him, then out of nowhere she fell in love with Draco, and after Lucius got out of Azkaban she just stopped feeling anything for Draco. It didn't make sense and to make it worse immediately after she broke up with Draco her first thought was Ron. It was like all the old feelings for him flooded her heart again. Like she was just taking a nap for a year and she was finally awake again.

It was about the same time when Ron was making his first appearances with the Cannons. She had no idea of course, that he had quit his Auror career to become a professional Quidditch player and when she saw his picture in the Daily Prophet that day after his debut, she knew.

She knew that she had no place in his life anymore. She knew that Ron moved on with his life and forgot all about her. She knew that Draco was her biggest mistake and because of this, she ruined her chances with Ron forever. Ron would never take her back after what happened and she knew that. She didn't need to ask him.

So, she kept on with her life, working practically all day. She never had a boyfriend after Draco. Her only company at nights was Crookshanks, at least before his death, the stuffed otter and a picture of her and Ron from the last New Year's Eve they spend together.

Ron brought her the water and they sat in silence for a few moments. It was Ron's turn to look Hermione in the eyes now. God, how much he missed her kind brown eyes. God, how much he missed everything about her. Not that he would ever admit it, of course.

He removed his gaze from her eyes. Yes, he missed her, but he also hated her; hated her, because he loved her. Still after all those years, she was his first thought when he woke up and his last before going to sleep. But that didn't mean a thing.

He still remembered her words that Valentine's Day; the day he was coming to tell her that he got his own flat and ask her if she would like to move in with him, after her NEWT's exams.

_Ron, before you say anything, there is something I need to tell you. I'm in love with Draco Malfoy. He kissed me yesterday and I kissed him back. I love you too, but maybe it wasn't meant to be. Maybe I was meant to come back to do my 7th year without you, so I could get to know Draco and to realize that he's maybe the one for me. _

_I want us to break up, so I can be with him. I wouldn't do it behind your back. I know I'm the most horrible person in the world for doing this, but I'm not that horrible. I need to be honest with you. I can't be with you while I'm thinking about someone else._

_Who knows, maybe this would be good for you too. There are millions girls out there who would chop their left arm to be with you. Maybe I'm not the one, and now you're free to find out. _

_I love you. Please forgive me. _

He remembers how she didn't shed a single tear while she spoke those words. Like what they had meant nothing to her. Empty words with no feelings. She had just ended their 7 months relationship and their 8 years friendship in the most nonchalant way, and for whom? Draco - the amazing bouncing ferret – Malfoy!

He could accept someone better, but the ferret? The guy was a walking coward who never did a single good thing in his miserable life for someone else. Not to mention that he was the guy who almost kill him in 6th year and the guy he always defended her from.

Her betrayal was worse than death for Ron. That day in Hogsmeade his heart broke into million little pieces and walked away without saying a word. What could he say after all?

He went back to the Auror academy, and a few months later, the best friend besides Harry who had there, died in a mission. Before Travis died in St. Mungos, Ron promised him to take care of his family; his muggle wife Claire and their two months old daughter, Hannah.

His fight with Harry a month earlier, made Ron take a rushed decision to quit the Auror program. Luckily for him though, the Cannons were seeking a goalkeeper and he went to the try-outs. He was the best and won a spot on the team. The rest is history. Best Quidditch player for the Wizarding world and secretly a family man in the muggle world.

Maybe Claire wasn't his wife, but over the years she became his best friend. And maybe Hannah wasn't his daughter, but over the years he became her daddy and she became his little angel.

As for other women? He was a playboy when he wanted. A lot of women found their way to his bed, but none to his heart. Not that he really bothered to date a girl more than once. All his love went to Hannah. Everything he had. What little Hermione had left him anyway.

He made another promise, this time to himself, that day in the hospital, when Travis died. No more tears for Hermione Granger. She didn't deserve anything from him. Not his love, or his tears, or his pain. She made her choice. It was time for him to let the whining behind and start living his own life. Maybe it wasn't the life he always imagined, but who said that life was easy?

Taking a deep breath he spoke.

"What do you mean you know about Claire and Hannah?"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm not JKR. I don't own the characters. My english are bad. Read and Review xD**

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><p>"<em>What do you mean you know about Claire and Hannah?"<em>

It was the first time Hermione heard his voice speaking to her after so many years. Some interviews on the television weren't the same. His voice caused her whole body to shiver from desire. How many times she had heard this voice telling her sweet words in her ear. Memories of her past flooded her brain, but Ron interrupted her daydream.

"I asked you a question, Hermione."

Hermione knew she couldn't tell him how exactly she new about Claire and Hannah. She couldn't just say _"Oh, I know it, because today like every Wednesday over the last 4 years I followed you like a pervert stalker and I saw you going into the clinic and then I followed you inside and heard your private talk with your dying wife", _now could she?

"Does it matter, Ron? The point is I know," she said nervously.

Ron was looking at her intensely like he was trying to read her mind. To Hermione's great surprise he didn't ask her again how she knew about Hannah and Claire.

"So, what do you want?" he asked her with a deep sigh.

"I want to help you," it was her honest reply.

"Help me with what?" Ron asked her again, with a confuse look plastered on his face.

"With anything you need help with. I know it's not easy for you to raise alone a child, support a wife and having Quidditch practices. I can help you," she said trying not to sound so desperate.

"Fine, you can replace me in the Quidditch practices," it was Ron's sarcastic reply.

Hermione didn't find this funny. She really wanted Ron to understand that she wasn't lying and that she meant what she said. "You know what I mean."

There was a staring contest for a few seconds between them, until Ron removed his gaze.

"I don't need your help, Hermione. I've been living without you for more than 6 years and as you can see, I'm doing pretty well," he said confidently.

Hermione snorted. "Yes, you're doing great, living a double life in secret. I bet your own family has no idea about Hannah or Claire, am I right?"

Something inside her wanted to bite her tongue for having the ability to say all the wrong things at the wrong time. She didn't even have evidences that the Weasleys didn't know about them, but she was sure that if the Weasleys knew, then Arthur would have told her. She regretted saying that and judging by the look on Ron's face, she realized that her words had set him off.

"What I do in my life is my business, not yours," he said angrily.

She lowered her head and her gaze. She felt a single tear rolling down her cheek. Ron was right. She had no business in his life anymore. When they were together until their break-up, they were a team. There were countless nights when they would lie down on the bed, making plans for the future together. But now, she was just an unwelcomed outsider.

"I missed you, Ron. Not just us being together," she said wiping away her tears and giving him a shy glare before she lowered her gaze on the floor once again. "I mean I miss that too, but that's not what I'm here for. I miss my best friend. Let me your friend again, Ron," she pleaded with him with tears in her eyes.

Ron didn't say a thing. He kept staring at her with cold eyes. When Hermione's eyes found him, he removed his gaze like it was too painful for him to look at her in the eyes, and Hermione thought that it probably was.

"What would it take, Ron? What do you want me to do to let me come back to your life again?" Hermione asked him softly.

Ron let out a small laugh. "Let you come back in my life? Why the hell would I want to do that?"

Hermione tried to speak but Ron didn't let her.

"I moved on, Hermione. I don't know what you were hoping to find coming here today, but whatever it is, I don't care. You shouldn't have come here in the first place," he said with such a hatred tone that it surprised her. She had never heard Ron talking to her like that.

The lump on her throat was too hard to swallow. "What do you want me to do, Ron? I need you in my life. Please tell me what do you want me to do and I'll do it. Tell me what I have to do to be your friend again?" she pleaded with him again with a shaky voice.

"Didn't you just listen what I was just saying?" Ron snapped.

At that moment a little girl came to the living room, holding a piece of paper. "Daddy, I'm hungry," she said and Hermione's eyes fell on her.

She was a beautiful brown-haired girl with matching brown eyes. She didn't look at all as a Weasley_. She must be Hannah_, Hermione thought feeling a little confused. She was expecting a little Ginny to tell the truth.

"Who is she?" Hannah asked Ron coming close to Hermione as if she was unafraid of the strange woman that was sitting on the sofa.

Before Ron had the change to say anything, Hannah gave Hermione a handshake. "Hello, I'm Hannah Weasley," she introduced herself, and Hermione had to smile with her cuteness.

"I'm Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you, Hannah," Hermione said shaking her hand.

Hermione saw that Hannah was holding a drawing in her other hand and asked if she could see it and Hannah agreed enthusiastically.

The drawing was showing a little girl holding with her one hand a red –head man and with the other a brown-headed woman, which Hermione assumed it was Claire and right next to them was a little ginger cat that looked a lot like Crookshanks. Hermione felt her eyes watering again remembering her favourite pet/friend.

"This drawing is beautiful. Did you draw this?" she asked Hannah who nodded, obviously pleased with Hermione's reaction.

"Yes, this is me, my dad, my mum and this is my cat, Leo," Hannah answered pointing after every name the right person in the drawing.

Hermione smiled at the little girl. "I love cats. I had one when I was younger and it looks a lot like Leo. His name was Crookshanks."

Hannah giggled. "That's a silly name for cat. Rooksfanks."

Hermione beamed at this. Hannah was so cute and Hermione wanted to hug her right there and hold her for hours. "Where is Leo?" she asked Hannah and the girl's face fell immediately.

Hannah gave Ron a sad glance. "Leo lives in the next flat with Mrs. Davies. She gave Leo to me as a birthday present, but dad made me give him back. He says that a girl and a cat, is not a good combination. I don't even know what that means," she said sadly.

Hermione this time hugged Hannah. She couldn't help it watching her sad face and it felt wonderful when she felt the tiny hands of Hannah hugging her back.

It was the first time that Ron spoke after Hannah had come to the living room. "Go wash your hands and come to the kitchen for dinner. I made spaghetti with meatballs," he said to Hannah trying to cheer her up.

The little girl started walking slowly to the bathroom, but she stopped after a few footsteps. "Is He-mrio-nee going to eat with us daddy? I want to talk to her about Leo," she said with almost a pleading voice.

Ron simply shook his head. "No, she won't. She has other plans and she must leave," Ron answered coldly, looking Hermione straight in the eyes.

Hermione was desperate to be close to Ron so she didn't care if she was embarrassing herself. "I'd love to stay if you don't mind Ron. I didn't have the time to cook and I love spaghetti," she said. It wasn't a lie after all.

"Please, daddy! Let her stay!" Hannah pleaded with her father.

Hermione and Ron locked eyes. Hermione was sure that Ron could see in her eyes how desperate she was and how much she wanted his positive answer. He removed his gaze.

Ron wasn't happy about it, and Hermione could tell by the look on his face, but he agreed with a deep sighed. "Fine, go wash your hands too, Hermione and come to the kitchen," he said defeated, but this time looking everywhere than Hermione.

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><p><strong>AN: Now if you think that Hannah loved Hermione so soon, think again. She just "using" Hermione, because she loves cats and she found an ally to convince Ron to take home Leo. Kids are smarter than we think. This "cat" talk happened in real life with my little niece. I couldn't not use it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Still my english are bad, still I'm not JKR, still I don't own anything about HP.**

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><p>Ron made a mental note to himself to remember that day, because it was one of the very rare days in his life that he had no desire to eat. He just kept staring at his full plate, knowing really well that he wasn't going to touch them.<p>

He was trying his best to not show to Hannah that he had a problem with Hermione eating with them, so whenever Hermione was started telling a story about their school years and Hannah asked in awe if it was true, Ron nodded with a smile.

He wasn't looking at Hermione though or he was stealing glances from her whenever he was sure she wasn't looking at him. He had to admit to himself that a 25-years old Hermione Granger was ten times more beautiful than the 18-years old self.

Her hair weren't bushy anymore. There was still long, but now they had beautiful curls in the end. Her physic had changed too. He tried not to look directly at them, but he couldn't help but notice that her breasts had become almost a size larger. Those breasts with her thin body and her always shapely legs, made her simply irresistible. Irresistible woman, not a girl.

He tore his gaze away. He didn't want to think Hermione like that or better yet, he didn't want to want to think of her like that. That wasn't very easy of course.

Another stealing glance from him, and this time his eyes fell into her mouth. Her pretty thin lips were moving up and down producing an angelic voice; her voice.

He remembered the last time he had heard that voice and what she had told him. He felt the anger trying to take control of his body. He knew if he let his weaker side win then he would explode, but he would never do that in front of Hannah.

His clenched his fists under the table and took a few deep breathes to make himself calm down. Afterall, it wouldn't change anything. What's done is done. It would be very immature and meaningless to have a go at Hermione for their break up 7 years ago. He was now better than this.

Hermione's eyes were glued to him now. He could feel it. It was like her gaze was trying to absorb as more of him as she could. As if she was trying to penetrate his defensive walls or to learn something new about him that her eyes could tell.

He thought of turning his head and made her stop doing that, but he didn't. One part of him, maybe that part that it's always in love with her, wanted to feel her gaze on him. It made his heart warmer.

Another part of him also wanted her to see how different he is now, than the boy she had left that Valentine's Day. He wanted her to see that the Ron she knew is gone. He wanted her to see that this Ron didn't care for her. He wanted her to realise that and then leave.

Hannah asked one more question to Hermione about Crookshanks and Ron had to bite his lips for not laughing out loud. He knew what Hannah was trying to do, but the way she did it was adorable. He didn't interfere to their conversation. He watched the first ten minutes Hermione trying and succeeding to teach Hannah how to pronounce her name and Crookshanks's name.

It was really cute to see his little girl saying so difficult words and unexpectedly he felt nice thinking that Hermione was nice to her and that Hannah liked her too. In the rest of the dinner he let the two females talking non-stop about their stupid cats.

"Tell me more about Crookshanks!" he heard Hannah asking Hermione again with a pleading tone in her voice.

"I've told you everything, Hannah. All I can say is that I hope Leo will be as good friend to you, like Crookshanks was for me," Hermione said, smiling sadly to the little girl.

"So, daddy what are you saying?" Hannah asked Ron with her a very hopeful expression on her face.

Ron as he wasn't listening to the talk, he had no idea what Hannah was asking him about. "What I say about what?"

"About Crookshanks and… Leo," the little girl said shyly.

"What about them?" he asked again confused.

"Hermione said that cats are like friends. I want a friend," Hannah again said very nervously.

Ron sighed. He knew what all those hints from Hannah were aiming for. "Is there something you want to ask me, Hannah?"

"I want… I want Leo. Can I have him?" Hannah asked her father, looking at her plate with her little cheeks redder than Weasley's hair.

Ron sighed. He hated saying no to his little girl, but he had no other choice. "I've already told you that you can't have him now, but maybe someday-"

Hannah didn't let him finish as he jumped off her seat. "Mum would let me have him!" she cried as she ran to her room in tears.

Ron watched his little girl leaving in tears and felt horrible. If there was another way he would let her have a dozen cats, but that wasn't a possible option.

He turned his gaze at Hermione who was looking at him in a mix of disapproval and sadness. Her plate was almost full empty. "Have you finished?"

She nodded and Ron went to pick up the plates and put them to the sink. He always washed the dishes the muggle way. He didn't know why, but it relaxed him.

"I'll help you clean," Hermione said making a move to move some dishes to the sink.

"There is no need," Ron snapped.

Hermione was taken aback. "I'm sorry, Ron. I was just…"

Ron took the plates to the sink and turned his back to Hermione. He thought that this would be a clear sign to her that the dinner was over and she had to leave. He heard her getting up from her seat and he was sure that she would be leaving.

"I'll go talk to Hannah," she said instead causing Ron to groan inwardly.

He didn't say anything though, because maybe Hermione wanted to say goodnight to Hannah or maybe she would convince her to stop demanding that bloody cat!

Fifteen minutes later, the kitchen was clean and Ron taking a beer went to the living room. He saw Hermione coming back from Hannah's room and he watched her walking.

He wasn't a pervert or anything, but he always loved to see her walking away from him or to him, holding those huge books on her hands. To his teenage mind, the way her buttocks were swaying was just too sexy for words.

"She's asleep now," Hermione said as she sat down on the couch next to him.

Her voice brought him back to reality. "Okay, thanks."

"I didn't know you drink beer. I remember that when you tried it that time on my place you said you hated it."

Ron took a sip of his beer and shrugged at Hermione. "Well, people change their minds in what they like and what not. You should know about this right?"

He noticed that his sarcastic comment caused Hermione to flinch as she had just experience physical pain. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't enough to make her leave.

"Is me the reason you don't let Hannah have Leo? Because that's stupid Ron! Leo is just a cat and Hannah loves him. Why can't you just let her have her cat? Do you really punish her, because of me? You don't want to see her with a cat because it would remind you of me and Crookshanks?" Hermione accused him.

Ron was surprised by her outburst and he got up and sat on the empty chair next to the couch, obviously in a way to show her to stay away from him, and snorted. "Don't flatter yourself, Hermione. It has nothing to do with you."

Hermione swallowed with great difficulty. Ron moving away from her like she had a disease or talking her like that was like a punch in the face. She didn't expect any different though, and she wasn't going to give up. "Then what is it, Ron?"

Ron didn't want to talk to her. He wanted her to leave. He was ready to tell her that, but when he looked at her for a moment, their eyes locked. He wanted to look away but her stare was so intense and he could see her eyes so clear now. How much he had missed those beautiful brown eyes…

Something kicked inside him and realised what he was doing. He removed his gaze from her and not knowing why, he decided to continue the talk with Hermione. Maybe deep down he didn't want her to leave or maybe someone was pulling a really cruel joke on him. He had no idea.

He took another sip of his beer. "Claire is allergic to cats," he finally admitted. "Her organism is too weak to fight an allergic reaction. I must keep Leo away and if that makes me a bad father, so be it," he added sighing.

Hermione rose from her seat and walked to him. She kneeled down and put her hands on his. The touch gave goosebumps to both of them, but they chose to ignore it.

"You are not a bad father, Ron," Hermione said softly squeezing his hands gently. "Isn't there something you can do with magic to fix the problem?"

Ron shook his head sadly. "I tried to find a spell or a potion, but from Sr. Mungos they told me that you can't modify muggle genes. Genetic health problems like allergies are untouchable by magic."

Hermione squeezed his hand harder this time. "I'll search, Ron. I can find something that will help. You know how good I am to find answers."

Ron looked at her in the eyes. She had a somehow hopeful expression on her face, like she was waiting for Ron's permission to help him. He knew she was telling the truth that she wanted to help, but Ron had no intention of letting her get back to his life.

"Why would you do that?"

"I told you Ron that I want to help you. I want to be your friend again," she said softly.

Ron looked down at their holding hands. The sight was enough to leave him breathless for a second. So many beautiful memories from the past flooded his mind. A little voice inside his head though reminded him, how everything was a lie and that her hands had touched that snake's hands.

He removed his hands off hers immediately after that and got up from his seat. "Why now, Hermione? Why after so many years, you are suddenly on my doorstep asking for my friendship? Or better yet, why would I want to be your friend again after what you did?"

Hermione stayed on the floor trying to fight her tears in vain. "I made mistakes Ron, I don't deny that," she admitted in a shaky voice looking down. "Everyday I wish I had a time turner to go back in time and change what I did, but I can't. Every time I see a blonde guy on the street I get this painful reminder of what I did to you with Draco or that because of me Lucius is not in Azkaban where he belongs. It's my burden and I've been living with it for the last 6 years."

Ron was surprised that he didn't felt sad watching Hermione cry. Probably it was because this time, she deserved to feel the pain of guilt. He watched her getting to her legs and wiping away the tears from her face with her sleeve.

After a minute of getting herself ready she turned back to Ron and walked to him. She stopped when they were practically face to face.

"I know that asking for your friendship is something you don't feel comfortable with, Ron. I understand that," she said looking at him in the eyes. "But, I can't move on without you. I don't want to," she confessed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest.

"I miss you, Ron. I miss you so much," she sobbed in his chest.

Ron fought his desire to hug her back. He kept his hands down to his sides with massive difficulty. If he was right or wrong he had no idea, but he wouldn't allow showing any weakness to Hermione.

"I think it's time for you to go home, Hermione."

Hermione reluctantly broke off the hug and wiped again the tears from her face. "Yes, you're right. It's getting late. I need to get up early tomorrow to go to the Ministry," she said sniffing. "I work in the Department for the Regulations and Control of Magical Creatures in case you were wondering."

It was the first time that Ron realised that he had spent hours with Hermione and he didn't asked to learn anything new about her. Not where she lives, what she do for a living, or if she's single; absolutely nothing. It didn't feel right to him.

"Listen, I'm sorry for my behaviour today. I know you came here with good intentions, and I appreciate that," Ron said and a hint of a smile appeared at Hermione's mouth.

"But let's be realistic, Hermione. You and I were never just friends. Even in the early years when there wasn't anything romantic between us, there was always a tension. We can't function as just friends, not without someone like Harry keeping us together, and we already lost our chance to more. I'm sorry," he said sadly.

He saw that Hermione was on the verge of tears again and he decided to be a little nicer this time. "I wouldn't have a problem though if you visited us every once in a while. I know that Hannah would love to see you again," he said with a shy smile.

Hermione's lower lip was trembling as she nodded. She knew really well that Ron was really saying to her.

"Yeah, I would love that too," she said, although she knew that it wasn't going to happen. She opened the door and left the flat so fast without even say goodnight.

Ron closed the door behind him and sighed. This day couldn't get any worse. His wife was in the hospital, his daughter was mad at him and the girl, and Hermione… Hermione just had to…

He walked again to the living room. His beer was still waiting for him and right now that beer was his best friend.

Hermione practically ran away from the flat. She wanted to go home and hug her otter and cry herself to sleep. All she wanted was to show Ron that she wanted to be his friend and he didn't even listen to her. Not really…

While she was climbing down the stairs of the building though, she noticed a sign outside the door of a flat. It was the flat that was exactly under Ron's flat. The sign on the door wrote _"For Rental"_. And Hermione despite the pain in her chest and the tears in her eyes, she smiled.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Imagine Ron's surprise when he'll find out that Hermione is his new neighbour, hehe! Leave some reviews if you liked it or not. Every opinion is welcomed :)<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Still I'm not JKR, still I own nothing, still my english are bad, BUT now I have a beta. ObsessedRHShipper corrected all the mess in this chapter, and I thank her very much :)**

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><p>The annoying sound of the alarm clock woke Ron up. The truth was that he didn't really have a good night's sleep. His mind was restless thinking about Claire the whole time. The news that she decided to proceed with a risky surgery and that it would probably kill her was enough reason to cause him to have a sleepless night.<p>

Dark thoughts of him attending her funeral holding Hannah in his arms was constantly on his mind, like a nasty boggart. Only this time, magic couldn't help him.

And of course, on top of that, Hermione came into the picture. Sighing, he decided to stop thinking about anything and walked to the bathroom for a morning shower before waking Hannah up to go to school.

Like always, she groaned when he woke her up, pleading with him to let her sleep another five minutes, but eventually she woke up and headed to the bathroom while Ron searched the wardrobe to pick something for her to wear to school.

It was ten minutes later when Hannah was ready and came to the kitchen where Ron was making breakfast for both of them.

"Dad, is it really necessary to wear this jumper? It's too hot! I'm going to be sweating like a pig," Hannah said as she came to the kitchen wearing a really thick sweater.

It was true that it was a sunny day, but it was still March so it was hard to know when the weather might change. "Don't wear it if you don't want to, but take it with you. You might get chilly later, alright?" he told Hannah and she nodded happily, as she pulled the sweater over her head and tied it around her waist.

The breakfast was almost over when Hannah asked her father. "Dad, when is mum coming back? I miss her."

Ron went to her and kissed the top of her head. "You know your mum is in the hospital and she can't come home at the moment," he said softly and a sad expression appeared on Hannah's face.

Ron kneeled down next to his daughter and lifted her chin up gently. "But, If Mohammed doesn't go to the mountain, then the mountain must go to Mohammed."

Immediately, her sad face was replaced by wide-open eyes and a hopeful expression. "We are going to see mum?"

"Of course, we will. Your mother misses you so much too," Ron said and Hannah hugged him very tightly. It had been almost a week since the last time Hannah had seen her mother. They talked on the phone, but of course, it wasn't the same.

Ron smiled at Hannah and hugged her back for a minute. He broke the hug and gave her a kiss on the forehead, before getting to his feet. "Come on now, eat your breakfast. The most…"

"…important meal of the day," Hannah finished smiling. "I know that, Daddy."

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><p>Hermione couldn't help but wake up with a smile on her face. Yes, her meeting with Ron didn't go as she hoped, but she had met his lovely daughter and she had signed the contract to move into his building.<p>

She was aware that Ron wasn't going to like that, but what was he going to do anyway? Move out?

A sudden frown appeared on her face. "Oh my God, what if he moves out?" she asked herself terrified. She was so happy that she was about to move into his building that she forgot how impulsive Ron could be.

"But surely Ron, wouldn't go for something so extreme because of our past," she tried to convince herself.

Besides, she wasn't planning to knock on his door every other minute or force herself back into his life. She just wanted to remind him of her presence and that she was going to be there for whatever he might need.

"Also, a good neighbor could lend me a cup of sugar, when I'm out of supplies, right?" she thought, biting her lips, making a mental note to herself to stop going so often to the store every now and then.

Her mind was on Hannah too. She was such a sweet little girl and she reminded her of herself with her love for animals, especially cats. She even thought of adopting Leo, so she could have Hannah over to her house to play with him. She felt really bad for Ron for acting like as if he hates Leo when in reality he's just trying to protect his wife, so this could be like a gift to him.

_I hope he'll see it that way_, she thought hopefully as she went to the bathroom to get ready for work.

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><p>"Mummy!" Hannah squealed as she ran to her mother's hospital bed.<p>

"Oh, my baby, I missed you so much!" Claire exclaimed as she hugged her daughter as tightly as she could, giving her thousands of kisses on her head.

Ron sat on the chair next to the bed, watching the scene of affection between mother and daughter with a smile.

"Are you a good girl with Daddy or do I need to scold you," Claire asked Hannah playfully.

Hannah turned to Ron and gave him her best smile. "I'm the best daughter in the whole wide world, right Daddy?"

"Most of the time," Ron commented and Hannah smirked.

"Come on, baby. Tell me how your day was," Claire said starting some small talk with Hannah.

Ron left them to catch up as he headed to the cafeteria to get a cup of tea and read his newspaper. He knew that once Claire and Hannah started talking, there was no end in sight. They could talk for hours and Claire never minded. Ron knew how much Claire cherished all her moments with her daughter, because she was always afraid she wouldn't have time in the future to do it.

When he came back to the hospital room an hour later and found them still talking non-stop, he wasn't surprised. What surprised him though was the mention of Hermione's name in their conversation. He stood in the doorway listening carefully.

"… and then Hermione told me that Dad once had a rat as a pet and that her cat tried to eat it, but Leo is a good cat, mum, and he would never do that," Hannah said defending Leo, obviously in a way to convince her mother to let her take the cat home.

"All cats eat rats, honey. It's their nature," Claire informed her daughter.

"Well, Daddy doesn't have a rat. Who would Leo eat anyway?" Hannah cried.

Claire didn't say anything. Ron knew she was feeling bad for that and he felt worse for her.

"Do you like Hermione?" Claire suddenly asked Hannah, getting Ron's attention as well.

Hannah nodded smiling. "She's great! First she told me all those stories about her cat and then she came to my room and told me how lucky I am to have Ron as a Daddy and that she'll ask Dad if she could take me to the zoo," she said enthusiastically.

"So, do you think she's a nice woman?" Claire asked her and Ron was confused. He wondered why Claire kept asking Hannah about Hermione.

"She's very nice, but…," Hannah hesitated to complete her sentence.

"But, what, honey?" Claire asked Hannah curiously.

"Dad doesn't like her," Hannah said awkwardly. "She was very nice to him, but Dad wasn't talking or looking at her. I think he hates her."

Ron didn't like what he heard. He tried to be very civil towards Hermione in front of Hannah, but apparently, he didn't do a good job.

"I'm sure Daddy doesn't hate Hermione. He's a good person and good people don't have hate in their hearts, you know that," Claire reassured her daughter.

"I'm telling you, Mommy. He hates her and her cat. That's why he doesn't let me have Leo. Can you convince him to let me have it?" Hannah pleaded with her mother.

Ron decided it was time to come back into the room before Hannah started talking again about that damn cat. "Hannah, you promised you wouldn't badger your mother with that cat nonsense," he said walking in and sitting again on the chair next to bed.

Hannah went red in face after she heard her father's voice. "I'm… well… I said that…," she stammered.

"Say what you want to say with no fear," Ron told her with a stern look.

Hannah looked at him shyly. "You don't listen to me and you don't listen to Hermione, so I thought maybe you could listen to mum," she said nervously.

"And maybe you'll listen to me," Ron snapped, regretting immediately his reaction to Hannah.

"Sorry, Daddy," Hannah apologized with a soft voice, looking down.

Claire caressed her daughter's hair and then she exchanged a knowing look with Ron.

"Hannah, I think it's time for you to know the truth," Claire said and Hannah raised her head to look at her. "I'm allergic to cats. You know what that means?" she asked her daughter and Hannah shook her head.

"It means that whenever I'm close to a cat, my body reacts and makes me sick. I cough and sneeze, I get a rash on my face, and my eyes get all itchy and red. I can even die from this."

Hannah's eyes widened. "So, if I had Leo at home, he would make you sick?" she asked in shock.

"It's not Leo's fault. It's mine. That's why I never told you. I know how much you love that cat since the moment Mrs. Davies's cat made those babies and you saw baby Leo. I couldn't tell you that you couldn't have him because of me. I was afraid that you would hate me," Claire admitted.

Hannah hugged her mother again. "Never, Mummy! I love you more than Leo."

"I know that, baby. Don't worry," Claire said softly, hugging Hannah back.

"You see why you must listen to your Daddy? It's not because he doesn't want you to have Leo. He's just trying to keep me safe."

Hannah turned her attention to Ron. She slid off the bed and went to hug him. "I'm so sorry, Daddy. If you want, I'm never going to see Leo again. I'll do whatever you tell me to do," she said crying.

Ron didn't say anything and just hugged her back. After a minute, he broke off the hug and wiped Hannah's tears from her eyes with his thumbs. "Don't worry about it. You can continue playing with Leo at Mrs. Davies house, and one day we'll find a way to bring him home as a member of our family, alright?" he asked smiling and Hannah hugged him again more tightly than before.

Half an hour later, Hannah was sleeping in the bed next to her mother. She claimed she was too tired to go home to sleep and pleaded with her parents to let her sleep for a while in the bed. Of course, both Claire and Ron knew that she only wanted to spend more time with her mother and sleeping in her arms was a very nice excuse.

Hannah sleeping gave Claire and Ron a chance to have a short chat and Claire didn't let the chance go to waste.

"Hermione, huh?" Claire asked him raising an eyebrow and Ron nodded.

"THE Hermione?" she asked him again.

"The one and only," Ron answered with a heavy sigh.

"What does she want?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "She somehow found out about you and Hannah and came to tell me that if I need her, she'll be there as my friend. It wasn't actually an offer, but more like her begging."

"She begged you to be friends again?" Claire asked him in surprise and Ron nodded again.

Claire was surprised, but she thought this was something really good for Ron. "That's great, Ron. You could really use a friend now with everything that's going on."

Ron snorted. "I have friends. I don't need her."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Ron, we both know that none of your "muggle" friends as you people call us like Mark, or David, are the friends you need. I know that you don't stay long enough in the wizarding world to sustain good friendships. You need someone like Harry or someone like Hermione who were with you before everything happened. You need friends that will be there for you no matter what and that will understand you without you having to speak a word," she said as if she was scolding him.

Ron sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know how much Hermione hurt me in the past. I can't go back to that!"

"Did she ask you to be together again?" Claire asked him.

Ron reluctantly shook his head. "No, she said that she's sorry for what she did, and that she has punished herself for the last 6 years, living alone with no friends. She said the only thing she wants is to let her be my friend and help me because she misses me."

"And what did you do?"

"I refused, of course," Ron replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Why?"

Ron wanted to shout at Claire, but he kept his anger inside him, so he wouldn't wake up Hannah.

"Claire, aren't you listening? This is Hermione we are talking about. You were there when it happened. You saw me sleeping on your couch for weeks crying and drinking. You and Travis were the one that helped me get back on my feet. You remember, Claire," he whispered in anger, clenching his fists.

Claire placed a hand on his hands and caressed it gently trying to calm him down a bit. "Yes, I do remember, Ron. But the question still remains. Why? Why do you deny her friendship? Wasn't she a good friend to you in the past? Before you two broke up, you told me that she was the best friend anyone could ask for. Wasn't she the one that always helped you with your homework? Wasn't she the one that saved you numerous times with her brilliance while you were fighting alongside Harry Potter against that dark wizard? Why do you base your decision on the worst thing she's done and not on all the good things she did for you? "

"You don't understand, Claire," he said sighing.

"Then make me."

"I can't have her as a friend, because that would mean she would be near me. And I can't trust myself near Hermione Granger," he said looking Claire in the eyes, trying to show her that he was being very serious about this.

"Are you afraid that you're going to hit her?" Claire asked confused.

"Worse! Shag her," was Ron's honest answer.

Claire chuckled quietly. "Easy there, tiger!" she teased him. "Besides, if you two come to that, then it's up to her to decide if she wants it or not, right?"

"Yes, but I don't want to even come close to a situation like that. Keeping her away means that I'm away from all the pain she caused me and the possibility of her hurting me again. I can't afford to suffer one more heartbreak from Hermione, Claire, and I'm sorry that you can't understand that," Ron said, causing Claire to stop chuckling.

"I can't understand that, Ron? You don't think that my heart broke when Travis died? You don't think that I would do anything not to feel the pain in my heart and the void in my chest? Your heart broke? Well, join the club!" she snapped sarcastically.

Ron regretted the words he used. Of course, Claire knew what it feels like to lose your other half. She was there when Hermione dumped him, but he was there for her when Travis died. Her pain was a million times worse than what he felt that Valentine's day. He cursed himself for that moment of insensitivity.

"I think you are an idiot! The girl you love is pleading for your friendship and you are still thinking like a teenager. Being a father really didn't have any impact on you, after all," Claire accused him.

"So, I'm immature because I don't want to go back to the woman who broke my heart?"

"No, you're immature, because she didn't ask you that. She asked for your friendship, but you are too blind from all the hurt and hate and confusion and love that you don't see it."

Ron wanted to say something back, but he knew she was right. Hermione didn't ask anything from him, besides to let her be his friend again.

"Two weeks from now, Ron, I'll probably be lying dead on a surgical table. I won't be there to see Hannah becoming a woman. I won't see her boyfriends. We're not going to talk about her first kiss. I won't have the chance to talk to her about sex or see her graduating or getting married," Claire said in a shaky voice as she was trying to choke down her sobs.

Ron reached for her hand and grabbed it gently. "Don't think like that."

"It's the truth, Ron. You know the odds," she whispered in tears.

"Harry never had good odds against Voldemort and he beat him. The odds of me being the best Quidditch player were even slimmer. So, allow me to disagree with the way you see the truth in numbers," Ron encouraged her.

"You're missing the point, Ron," Claire said. "Hannah will need a woman's guidance in her life if I don't make it. I don't know Hermione, but I know that she's a loyal friend and she's brilliant. Sure, she made a mistake but she is brave enough to admit it and after all those years she still wants to make things right and apologise. This is the kind of person that I want to be near Hannah and be a substitute mother to her."

Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You don't know what you are talking about. You don't even know Hermione, and you came to the conclusion that she's a very good role model for Hannah? Are you listening to yourself?"

"No, I don't know Hermione. Can you tell me what kind of person she is, Ron? Can you tell me why she's not good enough to be involved in Hannah's life?" Claire challenged him.

Ron was one step away from exploding. "Hermione is… she's…" he started saying in anger, but he couldn't really form a sentence.

He clenched his fists and let out a silent groan. His eyes found Claire's and they both knew at that moment, that no matter how Ron was trying to deny it, Hermione was a good person and Ron still loved her.

Once again, Claire reached out to place her hands on his. "Please, Ron. I need to know that you won't be alone to raise Hannah if I don't make it. Travis made you promise that you would take care of me and my baby and you did, Ron. I didn't like it at first, but when I saw you reading your magical fairytales to my little Hannah, I realized what Travis did. He gave Hannah a daddy," she said in a shaky voice as tears were rolling down her cheeks.

"Now I'm asking you to make a promise to me, Ron. Please give my Hannah a mommy."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: I'm not begging for reviews, but I don't understand how more than 40 people have put this story in their favorite list and only 6-7 people are reviewing. I don't understand how is this possible. If you like my story then say a few words. I won't bite, lol.<strong>

**I'll try the next chapter to be ready soon :)**


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Sorry for the delay. I want to thank my beta_ **ObsessedRHShipper** for her incredible help. Enjoy the chapter :)__

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><p><em>Most people do not consider dawn to be an attractive experience - unless they are still up. - Ellen Goodman<em>

Oh, how true these words rang in Ron's ears right now, sitting on the chair next to his bed, gazing outside his window as the sun was slowly getting to its place in the sky.

He couldn't sleep. His mind was full of anxiety, worry, confusion, fear and nostalgia. Hermione used to tease him that he could sleep through anything, but she wasn't here to see him now.

When he was younger and had a restless night, his mother would make him a cup of hot cocoa and talk to him until all his worries were gone. He didn't have that luxury anymore. He wasn't sure who was at fault after so many years, but the result was that he was alone in this. He didn't have his family or his friends.

That was what was keeping him awake this night. Claire's words reminded him how many people were absent from his life. He hadn't seen Harry since his wedding to Ginny. The last time he spoke with Ginny was almost two years ago when she told him that she would be waiting for him to grow up and apologize to Harry, but until then she wouldn't speak to him either.

_Apologise to Harry, pfff! If anyone deserves an apology, it's me_, Ron thought, although deep inside him he wasn't so sure who was to take the blame or not. He still remembered the day they had the fight that caused the end of their friendship.

* * *

><p><strong>Flashback<strong>

_Ron and Harry were at the Ministry's cafeteria drinking a cup of tea and talking about a case their team was on. It was three months after Ron's break-up with Hermione and Harry became the most important person in Ron's life, after his family of course. Talking about work and Quidditch was everything they did nowadays. Ron was still recovering and he wasn't very pleasant company; he knew that. He was also aware that the other members of the team were complaining to Harry about it, but he couldn't care less. _

_During their talk, he had a feeling that Harry wanted to say something but he was struggling in a way to find the right words. Knowing Harry after so many years, he could read him like an open book. Whatever was troubling him was something serious and surely unpleasant._

"_Are you tense or is that just my imagination?" he asked him, curiously trying to find out what was troubling him and Harry nodded hesitantly. _

"_There is something I need to tell you, Ron, but I don't know how," Harry said sighing._

_Ron got scared. "Is something wrong with Ginny?"_

"_Merlin, no! It's about you and the Lomix case we are on actually," Harry mumbled not looking him in the eyes._

_Ron got confused. What could possibly have to do with the case and him that he wasn't aware of? Just when he was ready to ask Harry, a pretty, young witch came and greeted Harry, not letting him ask the question._

"_Harry, it's so good to see you again. Are you alright? Ginny said you were sick and that's why you didn't come to Nick's birthday party at Zonko's."_

"_Oh, yes. Very sick," Harry said as he greeted the woman back and Ron knew he was lying._

"_Let me introduce you. Ron, this is Maya Collins, Nick Collins' sister. She was in Percy's class," Harry said and Ron remembered that Nick Collins was Ginny's classmate and a good friend of hers. "Maya, this is my best friend Ron Weasley, Ginny's brother."_

"_Oh, like I don't know who Ronald Weasley is. Honestly, Harry, sometimes you forget how famous the other two of the Golden Trio are," the girl said with a smile, as she shook Ron's hand._

"_Nice to meet you, Maya," Ron said politely._

"_Nice to finally meet you, too," Maya said with a friendly smile. "Now all that's left is to meet properly the last of the group. I actually saw you, Harry, with her last week in the Three Broomsticks, but I was in a hurry and left before I had the chance to meet The Hermione Granger."_

_Ron looked at Harry skeptically. If he remembered correctly, Harry had taken a day off last week to go with Ginny to Hogsmeade, not Hermione. He wasn't mad at him for doing it, but why would Harry lie about this? Was Harry under the impression that just because he and Hermione weren't together anymore, that he would demand from him not to be her friend anymore? The thought was simply absurd._

"_Now can you clear up something for me? Was the blond guy she was with, her boyfriend? I think it was Malfoy and if I remember him at all from my years at Hogwarts, then I'm surprised that these two are together. He was so spiteful with every non-pureblood. How come they ended up together?" Maya asked Harry with genuine curiosity, trying to fish for some gossip._

_Ron couldn't believe it. Not only had Harry lied to him about his Hogsmeade date, but he did it so he could go and meet Hermione WITH the ferret. Harry's guilty expression was proof of his treachery. He clenched his fists under the table while his face was getting redder with anger._

"_Maya, Ron and I are in the middle of a very important talk, so if you don't mind," Harry said as a clear sign that he had noticed Ron's reaction and that Maya should leave._

"_Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that," Maya said as she gave Harry a good-bye hug. "See you soon, alright?" _

_Harry nodded with a half-smile and after a final handshake with Ron, Maya left._

_Ron rose from his spot without saying anything and went to his office. He closed the door behind him and sat in his chair. He ran a hand through his hair, slammed his fist on the table and sighed deeply. _

"_Hermione is my best friend," he suddenly heard Harry's voice coming from the door. He saw Harry coming inside, closing the door behind him, and then sitting on an empty chair._

"_I know what she did to you was wrong and I hate it even more thinking that she's now with that snake, Malfoy. But she's my best friend. What happened between you two doesn't change that," he kept saying, earning no reaction from Ron._

"_Nobody is talking to her, did you know that? Not Ginny, not Neville, and not even Luna! She's hurt and she misses her friends, especially so close to her NEWTs. She wrote me a letter everyday for two months, pleading with me to go and visit her at Hogwarts. I made some excuses at first, because I was really angry at her for what she did, and for whom, but at the end of the day, she's my best friend and she needs me. Hell, I need her! I can't abandon her and I won't," Harry said passionately._

_Ron knew that Harry was sending letters to Hermione and he didn't have a problem with him listening to Hermione's side, although he had no idea how anyone could not blame Hermione for what happened. But, from this to go out with that slimy git, that bloody ferret, the - albino wannabe - Malfoy, was too much to accept. He kept staring at Harry with a look he never thought he would give him…the look of betrayal._

"_Why are you looking at me like that, Ron? If you have something to say, then say it," Harry demanded, challenging Ron to start talking._

"_Alright, I'll say it," Ron finally spoke. "I think you just ruined our friendship."_

_Harry snorted and rolled his eyes. "Stop with the drama, Ron. It's doesn't suit you very well," he practically mocked him. _

"_You want to know what's ruining our friendship, Ron? You… you and your self-pitying. It's been almost three months since your break-up and nobody is allowed to say anything about her without feeling afraid that you're going to take it the wrong way. You have us all carefully watching the words coming out of our mouths whenever we are having a talk with you."_

_Ron wasn't going to deny that. Yes, whenever someone made the mistake of mentioning Hermione's name, he would react badly or leave the place. But was it a crime not to want to hear anything anymore about the person who broke your heart? Was that so difficult for Harry or the rest of them to understand?_

"_And look at us, Ron. Do you know that we don't talk anymore about anything other than work or Quidditch? Every time I try to ask you how you're feeling or something personal, you ignore me and walk away; I'm tired of this. I can't deal anymore with watching you be depressed all the bloody time," Harry stated. By the tone of his voice, Ron knew that Harry was honest so he must be really fed up with him._

_For some reason that made Ron very angry and he felt the need to remind Harry what he did for him in the past. _

"_That's rich coming from you. I spent all my school years dealing with your feelings, Harry. Always trying to make you feel better and choose wisely not to mention Sirius or your parents. Do you know how easy it could have been for me to do what Her- she did? To talk to you all the bloody time about Voldemort and how in danger you are and how you should be more careful and that you need to study more to be more prepared for when the time comes and all that bullshit?" he yelled, red in the face with anger._

"_But you know what I did? I played Wizard's Chess with you and talked about Quidditch. You didn't need another person talking to you about feelings and worries. That's why you always preferred my company, because I was always good at taking your mind off the things you didn't want to think or talk about," Ron said in the same angry tone, feeling the urge to punch Harry. _

"_You were not only good at this, Ron. You were also good at abandoning the people who love you given the circumstances, am I right? You did it when I was a Triwizard Champion, you did it when you abandoned us - and mainly Hermione - in the midst of a war when we – she - needed you most, and now you're doing it again with me and your family. You're abandoning us," Harry accused him. _

_It had been a long time since the two of them had such a heated discussion, but neither of them was ready to back down._

"_But what makes me mad, Ron, is not that. I can understand that you felt jealous when I was selected as a Triwizard champion. I can understand that the locket screwed with your head in the Horcrux hunt and you had to leave us. Hell, I even get your behavior towards us at this point of your life. I understand all that," Harry said staring Ron in the eyes._

"_What makes me really mad, though, is that you're abandoning Hermione again!" he accused Ron who was shocked at his comment._

"_I'm abandoning Hermione?" Ron repeated trying to understand if he had heard right. "Since it's known that I'm a little slow, can you explain this to me in a way that it can make sense?"_

"_You know where she is and you're doing nothing. Why Ron? Why aren't you fighting for her? Why are you giving her up to Malfoy? Why are you leaving the tent again?" Harry shouted._

"_Are you daft, Harry? In case you failed to notice, Hermione is not screaming my name to come back now. She's shouting at me to stay away from her!" Ron replied angrily._

"_That's bollocks and I know it!" Harry snapped back. "I've seen her with him and I can guarantee you that she's not happy. That's why I agreed to meet her with the ferret. I wanted to see if he makes her happy and I didn't see anything that can convince me that these two love each other," he paused for a moment._

"_When she was with you… I can't even describe it. I could see in her eyes, I could see in the way she smiled, and I could see in the way she just sat daydreaming that she was happy. Not just happy, complete is probably the right word."_

"_But with Malfoy, I saw none of that," Harry said shaking his head._

_Without knowing it, Harry's words pained Ron like someone had just stabbed him with a knife. It hurt to feel that Hermione was with Malfoy, but if she loved him, then there was nothing he could do. But now, Harry claiming that the stupid albino didn't make her happy was even worse. Because if she wasn't happy, then why was she with him? Why did she break-up with him and throw away what they had and what they were going to have in the future?_

_But on second thought, Harry probably didn't know what he was talking about. Maybe he went there trying to find every little thing that would prove to him that Hermione wasn't in love with Malfoy, and he was just exaggerating about the whole thing. Maybe he was just trying to motivate him to go after Hermione without really believing that Hermione still loved him._

"_Well, then I suppose I don't need another excuse. I should just break into Hogwarts, find her and tell her, 'Hey Hermione, Harry says you're not happy with the ferret so you should leave him and be with me again', is that so?" Ron asked sarcastically._

"_Yeah, that's exactly what you should do," Harry challenged him. _

"_Would you do it? If it was Ginny telling you she doesn't love you anymore?" Ron asked him curiously, already knowing the answer, of course. _

"_Yes, I hmmm…I would…," Harry was struggling to give a comprehensible answer._

_Ron snorted at Harry's failed attempt to give a simple answer. "It's easy to give advice when it's not your heart on the line, isn't it?"_

_Ron noticed that Harry's expression softened after this. He probably realised that words of sympathy or motivation are meaningless when you hurt so much._

"_There is more, Ron. I was going to announce this to you before Maya interrupted us, but I think now is the perfect time," Harry said sighing. _

_Ron didn't even bother to look at him. Whatever he had to say, he was just not interested anymore._

"_I know you're not going to like it, but you're temporarily off my team."_

_That wasn't expected at all by Ron who this time gave his full attention to Harry._

"_You can't do that!" Ron yelled._

"_I'm the captain, so it's in my absolute power to decide who is on the team and who's not. And right now, you are not in a position to provide any assistance," Harry said trying not to show any emotion._

"_You told me to track down Lewis and I did it. You have no right to kick me off the team when I'm doing my job. You're not that powerful!"_

"_We already knew where Lewis was hiding, Ron," Harry admitted confusing Ron._

"_The rest of the guys were having doubts if you could work under pressure in your current emotional state. I tried to cover for you for a while, but then they suggested testing you with Lewis. I was hoping you would prove them wrong, but you failed. It took you two weeks to track him down, when one of our rookies had already found him in a day."_

_They tested him? He was Ronald Weasley, member of the Golden Trio, owner of the Order of Merlin First Class, flawless Auror – at least until the last few months – and a bunch of idiots on the team that were calling themselves Aurors without ever having to deal with a real Death Eater, were having doubts about his abilities? So what if he had a few rough months? Who doesn't?_

_Ron had no idea if he was more angry or disappointed. He felt like nobody had any faith in his abilities anymore._

_Harry went on, "You know how our job needs constant focus and the simplest mistake can cause a failure of the entire operation, that could lead to our death. And you are not focused on anything after what happened, Ron. We can't risk having you on the team when we are so close to capturing Lomix, Lewis and their gang. You are our weak link."_

_Weak link… Weak… Weak… was all Ron kept from this. He was weak. To his fellow colleagues, and his best friend, he was… weak._

"_I spoke to Travis and he agreed to take you on his team temporarily. They are handling a case of secret imports of illegal Dark items at the moment and since he's your friend and you basically live at his house, I think it's going to do you some good."_

_Ron snorted. "That's very thoughtful of you… my brother," he said spitefully. _

_With that, Harry rose from his seat getting ready to leave. They shared one last look and Harry said with a cracked voice. "I just want my best friend back, Ron. Please find him before it's too late."_

_He opened the door to leave, but he stood there for a second. "Believe it or not, this hurts me more than you," he said sadly and with that, he walked away from Ron's office._

_Ron watched him go and he just stayed there in his office for hours after that. He had lost Hermione, now he had just lost Harry and he was losing his job too. His whole world was crumbling in front of his eyes and he felt more alone than ever. _

**End of flashback**

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><p>Of course, maybe it was for the best, now that Ron could really think about. If Harry hadn't traded him to Travis' team, he wouldn't be on the case of Williams and he wouldn't have met the general manager of the Canons that offered him the opportunity to go on a six-week trial where he eventually signed a contract with them.<p>

Maybe things were supposed to happen like this so Ron could find his place in this world and to realise that he had enough with all the Death Eaters and the darkness that surrounded them. He was finally able to do what he really loved, and get paid for it! How many people could really claim that they are working at something they loved? He knew the answer and he always reminded himself how lucky he really was.

Someone might ask, why he or Harry never made any attempt to repair their friendship, once Ron found his old self and took his life in his own hands?

Ron knew the answer. It was his fault.

Harry made several attempts the first couple of years, by constantly inviting him to dinners or owling him to go for a butterbeer. But at that point, Ron was still trying to put his life in order, he still felt angry towards Harry for what he did, and his life was beginning to change drastically with his new job that earned him lot of money; also he had Travis' family to take care of, after Travis' sudden death a few months later.

He just felt that Harry had no place in his life anymore.

After the wedding to Ginny, Harry stopped bothering Ron. This was his last attempt to make amends with Ron, but Ron's refusal to talk to him before, during, or after the ceremony, signaled the unofficial ending of their friendship.

Ron knew now that he made a huge mistake that day. He was actually looking forward to talking to Harry again and getting his best friend back, but when he saw Hermione there, he couldn't think clearly anymore. It was a huge shock for him to see her after two years; Merlin, she was stunning! And to his surprise she was alone and not accompanied by the ferret.

Somehow, in his mind, there was confusion over how he should act. A part of his mind was telling him that he should deal with it like a grown-up, meaning, _fix things with Harry and shag Hermione senseless_. He did neither.

That was because another part of his brain, probably the overly protective part, told him that both of them had betrayed him in some way, and that he had a new life now, and that these two shouldn't be welcomed into it.

Thinking back with a heavy sigh, Ron realised that he was just bitter and stupid. He had no reason to forgive Hermione and to want her back into his life, but he was sure that he didn't deal with the Harry situation in the best way.

Because of his decision not to let anyone disturb his new life, he left and stopped all thoughts of restoring his friendship with Harry, and by that decision, he had lost Ginny too. He couldn't believe how just seeing Hermione there was enough to make him not participate in the wedding party or the worst of all, not wishing Harry his congratulations for marrying his sister. He just shook his hand and left as quickly as possible with no word coming out of his mouth.

Then it was the rest of his family. He was like a stranger now. He visited the Burrow only once every couple of months and all the communication with his parents or his brothers were now mainly through owls. Of course, nobody from his family knew anything about Claire or Hannah.

At first, it was because Hannah wasn't his real daughter, at least not officially, and he wasn't sure if he had the right to do it.

And then, Hannah was raised in a muggle environment and she had no idea what magic was and Ron knew how that could terrify a little girl. After all, it was only three months ago that Hannah showed her first magical skills.

She was holding her teddy bear while she was watching cartoons on TV. She didn't realize it at first, but Ron watched her in amazement as the teddy bear was changing colours according to what Hannah was watching. When a blue shark appeared on the screen then her teddy bear changed colour to blue. When it showed a ginger cat, her teddy bear changed from blue to ginger and it kept happening for an hour. After that day, Ron noticed that it happened at least three times more.

After that, Ron considered starting to talk to Hannah about what it exactly means that she is a witch and take her for a few days to see the Wizarding world and especially the Burrow to meet her grandma and grandpa and all those uncles and aunts she had no idea about, but he was scared.

He was scared that Hannah would hate him if she learned that her father was a wizard or that she had such a big family that she didn't know about. She often asked him or her mother to bring her a sister or a brother to play with; a request that Ron and Claire could never fulfill.

Claire always tried to convince him not to let his fears get in the way and that eventually he must face his past and his family, but he always replied with the same answer. "I will. It's just not a very good time to do it right now."

The truth was that everything was too messed up and he had no idea how to fix things. What would his family think of him when they found out that he kept a wife and a daughter a secret? What would be Hannah's reaction?

He knew one thing though. It was time to face the music. It was time to tell the truth to his family and to Hannah. He owed that to his little angel and to Claire. Even if he was bloody terrified, he had to do it.

The alarm clock started ringing and Ron realised sighing, that he officially had a sleep-free night. But this day wasn't any different from the rest he had, so he set the alarm off and headed to Hannah's room to wake her up for school.

After Hannah left for school, he washed the dishes, cleaned Hannah's room and took a shower. He was planning to visit Claire again and he wanted to look a bit presentable, and not look as if he had just spent a sleepless night.

While he was dressed and ready to leave, he heard a knock on the door. It was Mrs. Manson, the old lady from the 5th floor who owned the whole building.

"Mr. Weasley, I'm so sorry for bothering you at this hour."

"No problem, Mrs. Manson. How can I help you?"

"I don't need any help, but I would appreciate it if you could help the girl that's moving onto the third floor. She has a lot of bags and furniture and it seems that she's doing it all by herself. Could you be a sweetheart and help her?"

"Well, I was getting ready to leave now actually," he begun saying, but after seeing the disappointed look on the old lady's face he caved. "But I suppose I can give her a hand. I'll grab my keys and I'll go down in a sec, alright?"

That was apparently what Mrs. Manson wanted to hear and gave Ron a huge smile of approval. "You're a very kind man, Mr. Weasley. I'll be in my flat if you need anything."

And with that, she left and sighing Ron grabbed his keys and headed down to the third floor hoping it wouldn't take him too much time.

The door was open and he walked inside the flat. There he saw a lot of boxes, but no girl. Suddenly behind some boxes, he saw a female figure from behind. She was bending over trying to open a box, and Ron had the time to appreciate the sight.

He had to admit that the new neighbor had incredibly shapely legs and a very firm bum. He prayed that her upper half was equally good and when he saw her moving and turning to face him that was all he could think about.

The girl turned around and Ron finally saw her. Oh yes, his prayers were heard and her upper half was equally good, if not better, but he wished it wasn't.

Hermione simply smiled at him. "Hey, neighbor."


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note**: I know it's been very long since the last update. As I've said to some people here, drama is not really motivates me enough to write. That's why all my other fics are humorous/romance fics which is what I love to write. But, I am going to finish this story. I didn't start writing it just to left it unfinished. And there are a lot of things coming in this story. 

**ObsessedRHShipper** is the best beta in the fic world!

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><p>Her breath was caught in her throat. She was hoping for a better way to let him know that she had moved into his building, but now he was here and there was nothing she could do. When Mrs. Manson told her that she'd call for someone to help her, she had no idea she meant Ron, although she should have considered this possibility.<p>

A million thoughts were crossing her mind at that moment, and none of them was pleasant. She fooled herself this far that this might work, but now seeing him there, she realized what she was doing. She was forcing her presence in his life.

_But to be near him again, was what I wanted, right?_ she asked herself, but something was telling her that this wasn't true. She wanted to be near Ron, but not like this, Not as a neighbor or someone whose path could cross his in the elevator.

No, she wanted him back in the only way she knew could make her happy, as selfish as this sounded.

_But you had it and you let it get away. You threw everything in the trash bin and you made sure that you didn't deserve another chance with him! _A little voice screamed inside her head.

She couldn't deny the obvious. She and Ron would never be together again. She would never taste his lips again. She would never feel the naked warmth of his body while sleeping or the butterflies he caused in her belly every time he wrapped his arms around her in their sleep. She would never lie down on his lap to read a book while he would caress her hair reading the sports section of the Daily Prophet.

No, that dream was over, shattered into a million pieces and she couldn't blame anyone but herself.

Steadily, she prepared herself for his blow up. She only hoped that he would allow her to live in the same building and wouldn't force her or himself to move out.

Meanwhile, Ron looked around at the boxes piled up at the doorway, the windows bare of curtains and the room empty of furniture.

"Where does this box go?" he asked pointing to a large box next to the door.

Hermione thought she had heard wrong for a moment, but seeing Ron trying to pick up the heavy box with his hands, she realized that her hearing was perfectly fine. "Hmmm… it's books, so you can take it to the room on the right," she stammered, shocked by his casual reaction.

Ron abandoned the effort of picking up the box with a grimace. It was too heavy, so he pulled out his wand.

"Do you think it's safe to levitate them with magic? Someone might see you," Hermione reminded him.

"If I didn't think so, I wouldn't do it," Ron simply said, but Hermione wasn't so sure.

Ron noticed this and decided to reassure her. "You have two neighbors on your floor: the Casters that live at the end of the hallway and Mr. Richards who lives next to you. The Casters are in their late 80's and most of their time, are in their living room watching TV. Mr. Richards is a doctor and he's practically never here. He has a habit of taking his doormat inside when he leaves. I don't know why he does it, but I know that now the doormat is not outside, so he's not here."

With that, he used his wand and levitated the box to the right room.

"I'm impressed with your observance. I guess your Auror training still pays off," Hermione said with a smile, deciding that if Ron was going to be fine with the new situation, who was she to argue?

"Yeah, I knew that at some point it would come in handy," Ron replied without showing any emotion.

Time passed and when all the boxes were in their correct place, Ron was ready to leave. To Hermione's surprise, he had been very polite to her. He didn't ask why she moved into his building and he even joked a few times at the amount of books she had. Truth was that after six years, her collection was almost three times as large as the one she had when they were together.

"I think my job here is done," Ron announced without looking at her, as he grabbed his jacket and started walking to the door.

"Ron!" Hermione shouted causing him to halt.

"Would you and Hannah like to have dinner with me tonight? It's my first night in the building… and since you let me have dinner with you at your house… and now it's my turn to… and I want to thank you for helping me today… and Hannah seemed to like me…. and I'll cook something nice… I mean I'll try… you know I'm not good at cooking… and I won't… I mean if you don't want to…"

She knew she sounded pathetic with her lame efforts to compose a coherent sentence, but she couldn't muster up any confidence at all.

"We'll be here at 7. Is that good with you?" Ron said with a calm voice, standing in the doorway.

"Thank you!" Hermione exclaimed happily. "I mean, yes, 7 is perfect. I'll wait for you two," she added when she realized how pathetic she must have sounded once again.

With that, Ron left and Hermione went and sat on her sofa trying to process what had just happened. Ron came and not only had he seemed okay with her moving into his building, not only had he helped her with her bags and boxes, but he also agreed for he and his little daughter have dinner with her.

It was the least probable reaction she would have expected from him. She wondered what that meant. Could it possibly be that he reconsidered their talk the other day and he now wants to be friends again? She didn't know. But she didn't care either, as long as Ron was willing to spend some time with her.

Two hours later, Hermione realized that this day was weirder than she could have ever imagined when she heard the doorbell ring. She thought it was probably the landlady, but her surprise when she opened the door and came face to face with her other long lost best friend was huge.

"Harry? What are you doing here?" she asked with wide-open eyes and mouth.

Harry ignored her and walked inside the house with his wand in his hand like he was scanning the room for possible enemies inside. When he was sure that everything was clear, he walked back to Hermione. "What do you mean what am I doing here, Hermione? What are you doing here?"

"I live here. How did you know to come here?" she asked curiously since she never told anyone she was moving out. The only logical explanation was that someone told him that and who else knew it other than Ron. "Wait, did Ron tell you I moved in here? Are you two friends again, because Arthur never told me-"

"Ron? Arthur? What are you talking about?" Harry interrupted her looking at her puzzled as if he had no idea what she was talking about and Hermione realized that this was exactly what was going on. Apparently, Harry wasn't aware that Ron lived in the building. So the question remained.

Hermione closed the front door that was still open and turned to Harry again. "Harry, what are you doing here?"

"It seems you're forgetting that I'm the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Hermione. I must know everything about our employees," Harry said in a serious tone. "And you suddenly called in sick for the third straight day, something extremely unusual of you. When I sent an Auror to check on you, he reported back that your apartment is empty. I went there and asked some questions of the neighbors and one old lady told me you moved here. It didn't fit for you to take days off because of illness and at the same time to move out. I thought… I thought something had happened to you."

Hermione understood now. He came because he still cared about her.

"I just wanted to make sure you're alright," said Harry as a whisper and with that, he turned to walk away and leave, but Hermione didn't let him.

She ran to him and flung herself at him. She hugged him so tightly, like she was afraid that if she'd let him go, he was going to vanish from her life again. She wasn't surprised when she felt tears running down her eyes.

"How long has it been?" she asked softly, still hugging him tightly and to her delight, Harry was hugging her back.

"Too long," whispered Harry in a sad voice.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Harry! Please don't go!" she cried in apology.

"You should be," was all that Harry could say back to her still hugging her tightly.

Hermione remembered the last time they talked and remembered the last words he had said to her. It was right after Lucius' trial and after her testimony had practically set him free.

_**Flashback**_

_Harry was waiting for her outside the courtroom and when Hermione walked out with Draco at her side, he grabbed her and made her follow him down the corridor away from Draco, who really didn't bother enough to protest. When no one could see them, Harry spoke in a really low voice and with pure hate in his eyes. It was something that Hermione never thought she would see in Harry's eyes, especially directed towards her. _

"_He has always tried to get Arthur fired and always belittles the Weasleys. He gave the diary to Ginny that almost killed her, you, and Creevey. He was there when Voldemort killed Cedric. He was there when Sirius died. He was there when Bellatrix tortured you. He was always there and he was always by Voldemort's side. Voldemort is the monster who killed my parents and we were fighting against since the first day we met, in case you forgot."_

_Hermione knew Harry was right, but she also knew that Harry had no idea how caring a father Lucius was and how everything he did was to protect his family. Or that's what she foolishly believed at the time…_

"_Lucius Malfoy belongs in Azkaban and thanks to you he's going to be a free man. You chose them over us. First, you lost Ron; now you lost me. I hope your precious Draco is worth all this," Harry finished with venom in his voice and walked away, leaving a broken Hermione behind who felt one more piece of her heart ripped away as she watched her brother leaving her for good._

_**End Flashback**_

She still remembered that at his and Ginny's wedding, she was neglected by everyone, including him. When she had wished him and Ginny to have a happy life together, Ginny gave her a fake smile and a quick hug and Harry just shrugged without looking at her. She had gone there with the hope of reconciliation, but all she received was coldness. Not that she didn't deserve it, but it had hurt her to no end.

Of course, she knew it wasn't only her fault. Harry should have appreciated all the things she did for him throughout the years, like let's say, risking her life countless of times to help him. She didn't want forgiveness, but she was expecting some kind of understanding that she made a mistake, and everyone was entitled to make a mistake.

When she and Draco were over, she found herself all alone. It wasn't like when she and Ron broke up. She was heartbroken, even if it was her decision, but she had Harry. Harry didn't abandon her like everyone else. He was angry and disappointed by her, of course, but he stayed by her side. He was the brother she never had and she never imagined a life without him.

And then just like he said, she lost him.

"I'm sorry," she said once again with a broken voice.

"What's done is done, Hermione. Unfortunately…" Harry said as her tried to soothe her.

Hermione broke their hug and wiped her tears away with her sleeve. She hesitantly looked Harry in the eyes. "Can you stay for a cup of tea?" she asked hopefully.

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm sorry. I have a lot of work to do. I must go back."

Hermione sensed tears forming in her eyes and she was struggling not to let them roll down her cheeks again.

"You can… you can come for dinner tomorrow. I'm sure Ginny would like to see you and you can meet little James."

Hermione knew he was lying. Ginny wouldn't be happy to see her again, but she would. She missed Ginny so much! And the opportunity finally to meet their son spread warmth through her body.

"I'd love that," she said excitedly.

"See you tomorrow then," Harry smiled at her and left the flat hurriedly.

All Hermione could do was grin from ear to ear. This was definitely one of the best days of her life.

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><p>Ron was once again at the clinic. He didn't go straight to Claire's room, because there was something else he had to do first. He needed to have a talk with Claire's doctor and that's why he found himself entering Dr. Heaton's office.<p>

"Hello, Dr. Heaton," Ron said giving him a handshake.

"Good to see you, Mr. Weasley. What can I do for you?"

Ron sat down on a chair. "Claire told me about the surgery," he said sighing.

"Mr. Weasley, I'm not one of the doctors that sells false hopes to patients or their families. I told Claire that the chances of this surgery being successful are not many, but right now it's her only chance."

Ron already knew that part, but he wanted to believe that there must be something else. "So, if it doesn't work, she dies?"

"Yes, that's true," Dr. Heaton nodded.

The cold honesty of the doctor sent shivers down Ron's spine. "And if she doesn't go for the surgery?"

"She's going to die as well. She's probably going to live for another 12 to 18 months, but eventually…"

"And if it works, she's completely healed?" Ron asked too fast not wanting to hear the end of that sentence.

"Nothing is definite when we talk about cancer, but the percentage of the patients that went through this trial surgery and survived showed that they are completely healthy."

"How many people have survived this surgery?" Ron asked, dreading the answer.

"It's not a very common procedure and like I already informed your wife, it's still in the trial stages. It's only being performed in our clinic, but if you want to talk about numbers, then 5 out of 28 patients survived the surgery so far."

Ron turned numb. Claire told him that the survival chances weren't good, but he hoped for something better than this.

"You must understand, Mr. Weasley, that this procedure is only performed on non-reversal cases, like your wife's. It's one last shot."

Ron nodded showing him he understood. He scanned the desk and his eyes fell on a picture of the doctor holding a little girl. Actually, the whole desk was full of pictures of this girl, which Ron could easily assume was the doctor's daughter. His mind went to Hannah.

"Doc, father to father, what would you do if your wife was in Claire's position? Would you support her to do the surgery or not? There is a little girl at home, that won't forgive me if I take her mother away from her when she could have more time with her."

Dr. Heaton gave Ron a sympathetic look. "I can't tell you what the right decision is, because I really don't know, Mr. Weasley. If you want my professional opinion, I would urge you to agree to the surgery, but I know that for you the thought of losing your wife so soon when you could have more time with her must be unbearable. That's why, I don't have an answer," he said, not giving Ron any guidance.

"Now, as a father, all I can say is that you need to have a talk with your wife and make a joint decision whether you want to proceed or not with the surgery. You need to be together in this and I'm including your daughter too. She must know the seriousness of the situation. She must have the chance to have one last talk with her own mother, before Claire lies down on that surgical table."

Ron already knew that they had to tell Hannah. Claire insisted that they shouldn't because children should be carefree and think that everything is perfect in the world and not worry about death and sickness. She didn't want her daughter to look at her with pity or like she was made of glass. So, they lied. They told Hannah that Claire shaved her head because it was cool, and that she looked pale and thin because she wasn't eating her green vegetables and that was why she was at the hospital so often.

"Can I take her home for a few days? Please," Ron practically begged.

Dr. Heaton saw the desperation in Ron's eyes and he nodded. "I suppose I can allow her to have a few days away from all this, but she must be back on Monday morning."

"I promise, doc."

"Fine, I'll get the papers to give her a temporary exit ticket. Come to my office when you're ready to leave, so I can give it to you."

"Thank you," Ron said giving a goodbye handshake and left the office.

When he walked inside Claire's room, she beamed at his presence. "You're late. You said you would be here two hours ago and you know how I hate being stood up," she teased him.

He gave her a kiss on the forehead and sat on the bed next to her. "I got stuck helping Hermione move into that flat under ours and then I had a talk with Dr. Heaton."

Claire eyes widened. "Hermione moved into the building?"

Ron didn't answer. He had to give himself a medal for keeping it together when he saw Hermione smiling at him and calling him neighbor. He had no idea how he managed to stay cool, be friendly and agree to a dinner with her, but no matter how unsettling this was, he simply had other priorities right now and his biggest one was Claire.

So instead of answering, he just removed the covers of her bed and then he grabbed the bag with her clothes from the floor and placed it on the bed. "We'll talk about it later. Right now, I want you to start packing, because I managed to take you home for the weekend."

Claire threw herself at him kissing him everywhere she could. "Oh, thank you, Ron! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Ron hugged her back. "Stop thanking me and start packing. The sooner you're done, the sooner we'll be home," he said smiling. With that, they both got off the bed and prepared to leave, even if it was only temporarily, this cold, sad room and go to their warm and full of love home.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Yes, a new chapter! Don't forget to review at the end of the chapter and give me your thoughts about the story or the chapter. As the writer, I really need to know what my readers feel about my story. **

**Kathy is the best and fastest beta in the fic world!**

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><p>Ron was preparing lunch with Claire in the kitchen. Much to Ron's dismay, Claire insisted on not staying in the bed and kept pestering him with questions about Hermione.<p>

"Are you going to keep bugging me about Hermione?" he sighed as he took one more look at the oven.

"You are the one who helped her move in and you are the one who agreed to have dinner with her. I'm just trying to see why," Claire said fake-innocently.

"Yes, and I'm the one that in both cases regretted it, okay?"

"Save your bollocks for someone else, Ron. I know you too well," Claire said meaningfully.

Ron rested his hands on the sink and sighed again. "If you know me so well as you're saying, then you would know that when I'm saying to stop buggering me about it. I mean it."

"Of course, you do," Claire said, shaking her head in amusement.

"What should I wear? Casual or something more formal?" she asked as she sat on a chair causing Ron to look puzzled for a moment. "I mean what I should wear to Hermione's dinner. I am coming, right?"

Ron rolled his eyes in annoyance. The last thing he wanted when he plead the doctors to let Claire come home for a few days, was to spend any time with Hermione. All he wanted was to spend a weekend as a family with her and Hannah, but he couldn't and, more importantly, didn't want to argue with Claire.

"Of course, you're coming, Claire."

"I'm so excited to meet her!" Claire exclaimed in genuine anticipation.

"Why is that?" Ron asked raising an eyebrow although he knew the answer pretty well.

"You know very well why and stop playing dumb with me, Ron," replied Claire giving him a meaningful look.

"You are the dumb one right now, Claire, for believing that Hermione and I-" the alarm clock rang interrupting him. "It's time to pick up Hannah from school," Ron announced.

"Alright, I'm going to wait for her in her room. I want to surprise her," Claire said and ran to hide in excitement.

Ten minutes later, Ron opened the door scolding Hannah for her outfit.

"I've told you so many times that you must wear your jumper! Do you know how easy it is to catch a cold?"

"It's too hot, Dad! All the other kids are wearing only a shirt."

"I don't care what other kids do. If all the kids jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?"

"Why are you always asking me what I would do if the other kids jump off a cliff? No, I wouldn't jump! I would die if I did!"

"Exactly my point, Hannah. Besides, it's still March, not summer."

"Fine, Daddy. I promise I'm going to wear my jumper from now on," said the defeated little girl and Ron smiled in triumph.

"That's my girl," he said kissing her forehead. "Now go to your room. I have a surprise there waiting for you," Ron said smiling and Hannah's eyes widened in excitement.

"Leo?"

Ron shook his head. "No, it's something with fewer whiskers. Just go and see."

Hannah ran to her room and it wasn't long before she screamed in delight. "Mommy!"

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><p>Hermione was starting to think that inviting Ron and Hannah to dinner wasn't the best idea, considering that she was dreadful at cooking. She began cooking a roast, but the smell was too horrible and she wasn't brave enough to taste it. She considered if she would have better luck with pasta but in the end, she just ordered a few pizzas. She wasn't sure if Ron was letting Hannah eat junk food, but <em>one time wouldn't hurt,<em> she thought.

Standing in front of her mirror, she was debating whether her outfit was too much or not. She knew it was just a casual dinner and nothing fancy, but she was the hostess and she had to be at least presentable. She only hoped that Ron wouldn't think she overdressed with her knee length skirt and her favourite orange one-shoulder shirt.

The doorbell rang and Hermione walked through the door. She took a very deep breath, wore the most casual expression she could muster ignoring that her heart was beating like crazy, and opened the door. To her surprise though, it wasn't Ron's face she saw. It was a woman's face - Claire's face.

"Hi, you must be Hermione!" Claire introduced herself giving a stunned Hermione a quick hug. "I'm Claire."

Claire. She was more beautiful than she had originally thought. She barely could see her that time in the hospital but now, from this close, Hermione could see her gorgeous, but also afflicted face. Even her blonde wig looked amazing on her. Her lovely smile and her kind, beautiful green eyes were doing a great job at hiding it, but Hermione could see that behind them she was a woman who had gone through a lot and still was.

She must have been staring for a while before she regained control of herself and gave Claire a handshake. "Hmm, nice to meet you."

"You weren't expecting me, were you?" Claire smiled walking inside the house followed by Hannah and lastly by Ron.

"Hi, Hermione," said Ron with what looked like a forced attempt at a smile.

"Hey," Hermione said, ignoring the pain that Ron couldn't even greet her without an effort.

Hermione closed the door with a heavy sigh at this. She saw Ron quickly going to sit in the living room while the girls were exploring the house. "This is a lovely place you have here, Hermione. So many books! Have you read them all?" Claire asked in amazement and curiosity.

"Not all of them, but I'm planning too," said Hermione awkwardly, trying to come to terms with the fact that she was talking with Ron's wife.

"You must be very smart!" Claire praised her and Hermione blushed at the honesty of Claire's words.

Her eyes instinctively searched Ron and that pang of guilt hit her again. She wanted to laugh at the irony of Claire's statement. She wasn't smart. She was the dumbest girl in the world for letting Ron go.

"Look, Daddy. There is a picture of you with Hermione," Hannah exclaimed pointing to a muggle picture of Harry, Ron and Hermione that was taken when the three had spent a weekend in Hermione's house after the War had ended.

"Who is that boy with the glasses?" asked Hannah in curiosity.

Hermione was ready to answer but Ron had already moved from the couch and was standing next to Hannah. "This is Harry. Harry, Hermione and I were best friends at school," said Ron.

Another stab to Hermione's heart. _Were_ best friends, not _are_.

"No way!" said Hannah in astonishment.

"Yes, it's true; ask Hermione if you don't believe me."

Hannah turned to Hermione and she nodded. "Your father is telling you the truth. We met the first day of school and despite our… initial dislike of each other, we found some common ground and started to be friends. It didn't take long after that to become best friends."

"Why are-," Hannah began asking what Hermione assumed would be a questions about why they are not friends anymore, but Ron interrupted her.

"Is the food ready?" he asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"Why am I not surprised you're hungry?" Claire joked. "Honestly, Hermione. It's a good thing he's an athlete and gets some exercise because you wouldn't believe the amount of food he eats!"

"Trust me I know," said Hermione with a sad smile. How couldn't she remember all the times that Ron put food above anything else or the times he sneaked into the Hogwarts kitchen for some extra snacks?

The dinner was as awkward as Hermione imagined it would be. Ron barely uttered a word the whole time, while Hannah had no interest in food and went to the living room and kept looking at a photo album that had Hermione's pictures with Crookshanks and another photo album with muggle photos of Hermione, Ron and Harry.

Claire on the other hand was another issue all together. She couldn't stop addressing questions to Hermione about every little detail in her life. A part of Hermione was wondering if she was doing it on purpose, so Ron could hear the answers.

Hermione tried and succeeded to a large extent in not revealing anything she wasn't comfortable enough to talk about in front of Ron, but overall she had a great chat with Claire.

When the time to say goodnight came, Ron just gave Hermione a handshake and a forced smile before walking to the door waiting for Claire and Hannah to bid their goodnights. Again, Hermione's heart broke.

"Goodnight Hermione!" Hannah exclaimed before jumping to give her a kiss.

"Goodnight sweetie," Hermione said shaking herself from the previous feeling and enjoying this small act of love from the little girl.

"Listen, baby. You'll go home with Daddy to take a bath and then I'll come to read you a story," Claire said kissing her daughter on the forehead.

"Will you sleep with me?" Hannah pleaded.

"Of course, I will. I just need to ask Hermione something and I'll come straight to your room." Again, Claire kissed her daughter affectionally before urging her to follow Ron.

Ron for his part just snorted and rolled his eyes at Claire's actions. He had no idea what she wanted to talk with Hermione but he knew it had to do with him. He bit his tongue from saying anything and he simply took Hannah by the hand and left the house, without sparing a last glance at Hermione.

"What do you want, Hermione Granger?" Claire immediately asked once the front door closed behind Ron. "Sorry for being so straightforward, but as you know I don't have the luxury of time and I don't plan on wasting it trying to be subtle. So I'm asking you again. What do you want, Hermione Granger?"

Hermione couldn't pretend she didn't understand what Claire meant by that question. She wasn't prepared for that, to open her heart to a stranger and to Ron's wife no less, but since she was practically forcing herself into their lives, she owed Claire some explanations. She had no idea what Ron had told her about their past or their interactions a few days earlier, but something was telling her that Ron kept no secrets from Claire.

She walked to the living room and sat on the couch. Claire followed her and sat down next to her, her intense gaze never leaving her face.

"I made some bad decisions in the past and I lost everything. I just want to start making the right decisions now," Hermione said with a broken voice, avoiding any eye contact.

"You still love him." It wasn't a question, but a statement from Claire.

Hermione kept her gaze on the floor. How could she really look Ron's wife in the eyes and confirm that she still had feelings for him? It didn't matter though, 'cause Claire didn't wait for a reply.

"I was there you know; that day… that Valentine's Day that you broke up with him. He slept on my couch, emptying all my bourbon bottles into his stomach. He threw up a couple of times on my carpet actually. Thank God you wizards can clean everything with a flick of a wand otherwise I'd have had to make him buy me a new one," she joked but Hermione was too shocked with the revelation to consider cracking a smile.

"I didn't know you two knew each other before," she said, trying to figure out what that meant. Why had Ron never mentioned her before was the one thing that she needed to know.

"What exactly do you know about me and Ron?" Claire asked her.

"You two are married and have a daughter. And now I just learned that you two knew each other while we were still dating."

It was hypocritical on her part, but she couldn't help the slight feeling of betrayal by Ron. For all she knew, he and Claire could have had an affair behind her back, while they were still together. Otherwise, why would Ron keep his friendship with her a secret?

"One day my late husband Travis brought Ron home for dinner. I'd never seen a man eating like that in my life. But he had something special about him. He was funny and polite, and Travis really liked him and that was rare because he didn't make friends easily. Actually Ron was his only friend, and in time, he became my friend too."

"You were married before?" Hermione asked, not believing what she was hearing. She remembered someone named Travis that was Ron's boss or one of his bosses anyway, but she never knew that Ron hung out with him.

"Let me finish and you'll learn everything," Claire smiled at her and still shocked, Hermione nodded.

"Ron told us all about you and your adventures with Harry Potter. We were really looking forward to meeting you but you were at school and there was never enough time to arrange a meeting. Now, forgive me but I'm not a witch, so I don't really remember much about all the stories he told me of you three, but I do remember that every time he mentioned your name, his face lit up and he seemed proud that you were his girlfriend. I knew that he could never love anyone more than he loved you."

Hermione didn't want to hear that. It only made her guilt worse.

"So imagine my surprise when Travis brought him home that day completely pissed and I saw him emptying all the alcohol in the house, cursing your name over and over."

A mental image of a drunk and heartbroken Ron crossed Hermione's mind and she winced, like she could feel his pain.

"When Travis explained to me what happened, I understood. I cleaned the guest room and I forced Ron to stay with us for a few days. By the end of the week, Ron was better or let's say more sober. He went back to his flat, but he always came for dinner and to spend some time with us."

Claire paused for a moment as if to gather some courage to continue talking.

"Travis died a few months later on a mission and Ron promised to take care of me and my unborn baby. He became the surrogate husband and father, you could say," she said wiping a tear that threatened to roll down her cheek.

"When I was first diagnosed with cancer, it was only a year after Travis died and only a few months after I gave birth to Hannah. I don't have any living relatives apart from a 70-years old aunt that lives in Canada and Travis grew up in an orphanage. You can understand how big my fear was that Hannah would end up alone if the cancer killed me."

Of course, Hermione could understand how horrible that must have been for Claire to lose a husband and then to be diagnosed with a deadly disease that could leave her baby unprotected in the world.

"Ron came to visit me one night and he found me drunk and crying. He took me in his arms and he promised me that he'd always be there for Hannah. He told me that if it was fine with me, he could adopt her so I wouldn't have the need to worry about Hannah's future."

All the previous emotions she had towards Ron were replaced by pride in his selfless act. If it was possible, she loved him even more now.

"I happily agreed because I knew how much Ron loved Hannah. The adoption wasn't an option though. Hannah was already registered as Travis' daughter so the only way to change that was if Ron and I got married. Then he could officially adopt Hannah and that's how we ended up married. Two months after the marriage, my doctors said that I beat the cancer, but it didn't last long. Four months ago, that son of a bitch returned more aggressively. I guess Death really desires my company."

Hermione was too overwhelmed by so much information. She was speechless with how many things happened in Ron's life that she wasn't there to witness or to be a part of.

"Our marriage is phony, Hermione, as I'm sure you've already figured out. I love him and he loves me and we both love Hannah, but we are not together. There was never any romance between us."

Hermione felt a surge of hope in her heart that was quickly replaced by the reminder that Ron, married or not, didn't want anything to do with her anymore.

"What happened to that guy?" Claire asked, clearly referring to Draco.

Hermione sighed and looked down in shame. "It didn't last more than a few months. It wasn't love; I don't even know what it was, but it went away just as fast as it came. Last thing I heard of him was that he got engaged a year ago."

"And you're not sad about it?"

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the question. "I don't have feelings for Draco. I couldn't care less what he's doing with his life," she replied with all honesty.

"And yet, you destroyed your whole life to be with him."

Claire's words felt like a punch in the face and the truth rang loud in the room.

"How did you throw away what you had with Ron for a guy that meant nothing to you?"

"I don't know!" Hermione exclaimed closed to tears.

"Hermione, we're both adults here. Treat me like one, please."

"I'm telling you the truth. I don't know what happened," she protested.

She was honest. Everything that happened during that period didn't make sense in retrospect but yet, it was all conscious decisions. She knew that Draco didn't use some weird spell on her or fill her with love potion. She frantically performed all the necessary checks to make sure that she wasn't under the influence of any magic, but in vain. She simply fell in love with Draco Malfoy and she had to accept that.

She took a deep breath. "Something inside me felt something for another man. Something less strong than the weakest feeling I had for Ron, but it was enough to make me end things with him. I could never stay with Ron if I couldn't give him all of me. Our relationship was never for the middle ground. It always balanced on the edges of complete madness and endless love. I can't explain it better and it's probably stupid, but with us it was always either everything or nothing."

She rested her head in her hands and sighed in desperation. "At least that's what I used to believe anyway," she whispered to herself but Claire heard her.

"You don't believe it anymore?" Claire asked and Hermione shook her head. "Why's that?"

"I realised that I can never get back everything, but I could settle for something more than nothing."

Claire then did something that took Hermione by surprise. She reached her hand and placed it on top of Hermione's and gave her an encouraging squeeze, accompanied by a warm smile. It was that gesture that brought Hermione to tears and she turned her head to the other side so Claire wouldn't see her wet face, but Claire proved once again that she was a wonderful person when she moved closer to Hermione and gave her a tight hug, allowing her to cry on her shoulder.

"Nobody's perfect, Hermione. People make mistakes, sometimes huge ones, but it's not the worst thing. The worst thing is to believe that these mistakes define you. That's what's worst. So, stop punishing yourself for the past, and do something for the future. Be that girl that Ron always was so proud of," Claire tried to soothe Hermione and encourage her.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you being so nice to me?" Hermione sobbed on her shoulder.

"Because Ron and Hannah will need you if I don't make it."

Claire said those words so softly and with such a broken voice, that Hermione knew she was also crying, so both women just held each other for a few minutes shedding tears and releasing some of the pain they tried to hide.

It was Claire that broke the hug and wiped her face. Hermione stood up and went to the kitchen coming back with some tissues and offering them to Claire.

"It's been so long since I've cried," confessed Claire with a weak smile.

"Unfortunately I can't say the same," said Hermione remembering all the nights she would sleep in tears holding her stuffed otter.

"Let me now tell you the main reason I wanted us to talk, Hermione," Claire said taking a more serious pose, puzzling Hermione who nodded waiting for her to start talking.

"I'm a very positive person. I always try to stay optimistic even though things were never easy in my life. But I must face reality and the reality says that I'll probably be dead in two weeks and I can't deal with it, knowing that I'm going to leave Hannah and Ron like this."

"Don't think like this. You must keep staying positive."

"I am! I believe I can make it. But just in case I don't, I want to know that I'm going to leave my family in good hands."

Hermione wasn't sure if by _good hands_ it meant her or not, but she felt again great affection for this woman in front of her and wished she had the chance to meet her in the past and under better conditions.

"I'm not going to tell you how to handle your situation with Ron, but the reason I wanted to talk to you has to do with Ron's family and by extension… you."

Hermione nodded not really understanding where Claire was heading.

"I've tried many times to convince Ron to tell them everything, but he always postponed it."

"I had my suspicions that his family don't know about you or Hannah. Sometimes I talk with his father and he has never mentioned anything. I don't understand why though," said a confused Hermione.

"That's Ron's job to answer, not mine. But if I could guess, I'd say that this life has no connection with you, or anything from the past that hurt him, so that played a part."

Hermione didn't want to believe that Ron would hide something like this from his family because of what happened between them, but on the other hand it did make sense that Claire and Hannah were his new life and held no connection with his past. Still though it did seem very extreme and she would make sure she'd learn the answer to that decision.

"Ron doesn't know yet, but tomorrow morning he and I are going to tell Hannah that she's a witch and on Sunday I'll make him take us to visit his family for the first time. I don't have any more time to waste."

"You are going to love his family. Hannah and you are going to receive so much love there," said Hermione passionately, believing every word and ignoring the irony that she was at that moment on the receiving end of a very cold treatment from all the Weasleys, except Arthur of course.

"What I need from you Hermione is to help Hannah now in the beginning of learning what being a witch is. Ron grew up in a wizarding family so he never had any difficulties in accepting it and I can't help Hannah since I'm not a witch. But you were born into a non-magical family, Hermione, and you know how it feels for a little girl to learn something like this."

"It's terrifying; thrilling and exciting, but definitely terrifying," admitted Hermione remembering how she felt the first time Professor McGonagall came to her house and explained to her why she was so different from the other kids.

"I know Ron will object, but I'm asking you as a mother to help my daughter and guide her to this new world."

Claire's green eyes were deeply looking at Hermione's brown ones, waiting hopefully for a positive answer. "I'd love to help, but why would Hannah listen to me? She barely knows me."

"I'm not saying it's going to be easy, especially if I'm not here, Hermione. It will take time of course, but if your intentions are good, she'll know. And if the outcome of my surgery is not good, Hannah will still need guidance in life. She'll need a female role model - someone to help her, someone who she can trust like a daughter would trust her mother."

Hermione still hesitated to answer not because she didn't want to, but because she knew that Ron wouldn't like the idea and because Hannah might look at it as an effort to replace her mother. Claire noticed that Hermione was still debating whether to answer positively or negatively.

"I-I don't know what to say," Hermione stammered.

"Please, Hermione! She's 6-years old - still a baby. She hugs her teddy shark to sleep," said Claire and this time she managed to control herself and not cry, despite how emotional she felt.

"What about Ron? What if he doesn't let me?" asked Hermione in fear.

"I'm not asking Ron. I'm asking you." Claire insisted and her pleading eyes melted Hermione's heart.

"I promise," said Hermione and a sigh of relief escaped Claire's lips.

She moved and hugged Hermione again, thanking her over and over. Hermione felt that Claire shouldn't thank her because it was more of an honour to let her be by Hannah's side.

"You are a wonderful woman, Claire. I wish I had met you back then," Hermione said quietly.

"Nothing is stopping you from become my friend now, is there?" Claire smiled.

Hermione smiled back and that seemed to signal the end of the night as Claire rose from her spot and got ready to leave.

"Hannah is waiting for me and I don't want to keep her waiting much longer."

"Have a nice night," Hermione said, walking Claire to the front door.

Claire bid goodnight too, but before leaving she turned to Hermione for one last moment. "Don't beg him. Earn him."

With that, she left the flat, leaving Hermione deep in thought. The dinner took a completely different direction than what she anticipated, but definitely better than she imagined. She learned a lot of things about Ron's life, she met this wonderful woman that was like a source of inspiration, and for the first time since she moved in, she felt more hopeful about the future.

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><p><strong>AN: Don't forget to visit my profile and read my other stories as well :)**


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